Nocturnal Enemies! Farmers Work At Night To Kill Pesky Cutworms

Farming is not an easy job and this should be understood by those who haggle for a lower price when buying farmers’ produce.
In the fields, the farmers face so many challenges including the unpredictability of the weather and pests.
There was a time when the farmers knew exactly when the rains would come which signaled the start of the planting season.
With Climate Change, however, nobody could precisely predict when the rains would come and this makes farming very difficult.
Added to that, there are pests which require extra effort on the part of the farmers to produce.
In my Soybeans fields in Alamada, Cotabato now, we are challenged by a worm which only works at night, thus requiring our farmers to undertake preventive and control measures at night too.
These nocturnal enemies are called “Cutworms,” a very appropriate name because they chew the stem of the young Soybeans.
“Cutworms are moth larvae that hide under litter or soil during the day, coming out in the dark to feed on plants. A larva typically attacks the first part of the plant it encounters, namely the stem, often of a seedling, and consequently cuts it down; hence the name cutworm.”
The first indication that the Cutworms are attacking the young crops would be the yellowing of the plants at kapag binunot, makikita na putol na ang puno dahil kinain na ng Cutworms.
The problem with Cutworms is they operate at night so kailangan ang farmer ay magtrabaho sa gabi para makita sila at mapatay.
Spraying is done at night or early morning na wala pang liwanag and to be able to do this, kailangan ang farmer ay mayroong headlamps.
Ganyan kahirap ang buhay ng magsasaka kaya sa mga mamimili, bago ninyo baratin ang Talong na binebenta ay isipin ninyo muna kung gaano kahirap magtrabaho sa gabi o gumising sa malamig na umaga para lang mabuhay ang mga tanim na pinanggagalingan ng pagkain ng bansa.

#MahirapMagsaka!
#HwagMongBaratin!