Pest ravages sugarcane farms in the Visayas

BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Close to 5,000 hectares of sugarcane farms have been ravaged by the red-striped soft-scale insect (RSSI) in the Visayas, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) reported on Thursday.

The infestation has more than doubled in six days, and has expanded to 244 villages on the islands of Negros, Panay and ...