THIS IS a message to all coconut farmers and plantation owners nationwide. The government appropriated about P700 million to get rid of a coconut pest insect (cocolisap). It suppressed all cheap organic formulas from the best of our scientists and opted for an expensive toxic chemical from Japan, which is banned in many countries but got a quick approval from our Food and Drug Administration. The insinuations: big bucks, killer chemicals, threats to farmers if they do not use them, threats to the entire multibillion-peso coconut industry itself if buyers abroad discover we use banned chemicals, questionable connection with the local distributor.
Here comes a farmer from Batangas who told me the solution is so cheap, simple and effective, even better than some of the cheap organic solutions offered by scientists. Boil madre de cacao bark, leaves and branches in brine (water plus salt), add shredded labuyo (native chili), and sprinkle on the ground around the coconut trees. You do not need to climb the tree and spray it (that would entail expensive labor, and would be a waste of time). When the cocolisap falls with the dried-up leaves it has destroyed, it is killed on the ground and cannot climb up again. The wisdom of peasants with little education, the folly of bureaucrats and scientists with doctorate degrees.
The government can object and question this solution, but be reminded, it has been used and is very effective.
—BERNIE LOPEZ, eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com