2008 Philippines Trip Report 8 Jan-April 10 Beverly S. Gerdeman USAID IPM CRSP

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1 2008 Philippines Trip Report 8 Jan-April 10 Beverly S. Gerdeman USAID IPM CRSP 8 Jan Leave US for Manila 9 Jan Arrive Manila. Travel to Los Banos. 11 Jan Curation Municipality s slide collection. Pack equipment. 16 Jan Travel to La Trinidad. 17 Jan Courtesy call Office of the Municipal Agriculturist. Discussed year s objectives with Fely Ticbaen, Municipal Agriculturist, Alex Tello and Nida. Courtesy call Benguet Provincial Board members in the afternoon. 18 Jan Courtesy call La Trinidad Mayor, Artemio Galwan, municipal accountant Nympha and municipal legal advisor. Discussed accomplishments and proposed plans and implementation of budget. Mayor requests a simplified MOA. Lunch at Ingalay Restaurant with Alex and Terio Codioman (Provincial Farmer Scientist). Discussed problems with pollination in the greenhouses. Describes different size berries. We discuss the possibility of testing the native honeybees, Apis cerana and also Trigona sp. Visited the Municipal Nursery at Bahong to sample the poinsettia banker plants. Found some orange Tetranychus Some of the Eotetranychus lewisi on the Poinsettia are also orange. Colonies are also small suggesting that they do enter a diapause sometime between September and December. 20 Jan Set up phase contrast microscope for the municipality and studied mite voucher specimens. Surveyed Lewis s strawberry field found only a small number of spider mites (not T. urticae) near the wall as suspected since it would be the warmest area. 21 Jan Prepared slides for municipal voucher collection. Visited Municipal Hall to obtain list of people, titles and contact numbers involved with the project and budget. 22 Jan Mounted slides of specimens from municipal nursery. Designed OPAG (Office of the Provincial Agriculturist) rearing setup with Phin and Eliseo. Propose to use 4 ft sections of large diameter PVC split into halves, horizontally for bean plants. The PVC planters can be cleaned and sterilized, will eliminate the need to use disposable plastic pots and reduce labor. Hiked up above the tea plantation sampling for mites for the acarology training. 23 Jan Went with Phin, Eliseo, Alex and George to visit Gavino s fields to see the previous year s poinsettias and the status of his strawberry crop. It appears that he has abandoned the idea of organic production. Some previous year s strawberry plantings remain. We observe Trigona as the predominant pollinator for his strawberry. Only saw one Apis cerana and no A. mellifera. Visit OMAG and check their mite-brushing machine. A Canadian model extra brushes will have to be ordered from them or the entire device retrofitted for brushes used by the current US manufacturer. Discussed with technician Nida Organo her proposed honeybee/varroa experiment. Will make some suggestions on

2 experimental design. Went to Barangay Bineng to locate a farmer cooperator who will allow us to plant bush beans for a field insectary. Passed by the banana/pineapple tissue culture demo plot in Sitio Pitpitay and collected a sample of rotten banana trunk and a rotten wood sample. Passed by the barangay hall and met with Barangay officials. One official, Lito Lorena will give us 5 plots in Sitio Hilltop. We will pay the going rate for the land preparation, 300P for one day s work. He will be planting broccoli in his nearby plots and there is no problem with spider mites infesting his crop. He asked me to look at his broccoli, which was exhibited infestation by a lepidopteran and a dipteran leafminer. He gave us several papayas as a gift and scored them on the outside to force them to ripen. Purchased two 20 foot black PVC pipes and cut them into 4 ft. sections for rearing. Checked on compressors for spider mite egg collection. The prices for a good quality Vespa vary from P. 24 Jan Set up Berlese units and run samples from Barangay Bineng. Prepare experimental design for the honeybee/varroa study. 25 Jan Visited Johnny Santiago s field. We met the Barangay Captain of Puguis, Evelyn Bayote. She is the aunt of Johnny now an assistant to Mayor Galwan with and has no extra time for planting so his field is overgrown. We delivered Nida s suggestions for her proposed study on Alternative methods for controlling Varroa on honeybees. She suggests a trip to visit the cooperative beekeepers in the study and we will visit Central Luzon State University where they have the foundation extruder. Hiked toward Barangay Bineng hunting for mites for the acarology class. Many springs on the hillside. We met some men in a Sari Sari store who said they would collect them if they saw any millipedes or centipedes. They called the centipedes, gayaman but no name for millipedes. 26 Jan Ran Berlese samples. Collected more ants from the pine stumps in front of OPAG lab. All of the mite samples collected will be mounted for use by student and participants of the acarology course to be taught in Benguet. 27 Jan Collected Anoetidae (immatures and adults) from the pitcher plants that have been planted on the hillside at the parking area where we hang our clothes. The pitchers that still had the caps on did not have any mites in them nor did the old pitchers, which were full of ant debris, dirt and roundworms. Only young pitchers had the mites, which may suggest the mites have a brief period when they can survive the enzymes of the pitchers or perhaps require a certain ph or concentration of enzymes. Both adults and immatures were collected from the pitchers and they look very different. Hard to recognize that they are the same species, heteromorphic. The immatures are nonfeeding and have anal suckers to attach (hypopus?) and the adults swim with swimming hairs across the film that coats the basal portion, inside the pitchers. 28 Jan Mounted mites from the Berlese samples and worked on strawberry IPM manual. 29 Jan Worked in laboratory 30 Jan Went to Hilltop Sitio in Bineng. The field was not prepared for planting. Alex picked up Lito and Ronnel (barangay Bineng councilman) and together with Eliseo and Phin and I we removed the vegetation on the area of the field to be planted. It was hot and the ground was too dry to prepare the mounds for the

3 hilling. I will pay for 2 laborers to prepare the area and to plant the beans. Maybe they will already be up by next Wed when we visit again. We had lunch at Lito s, the barangay Bineng captain. We met his wife. She was the previous barangay captain. She now has a new baby. We discussed the problems with changing the mindset of the farmers. It is the same as in the states. The competition between the farmers causes them to be secretive among their fellow farmers. There are many trade secrets among them. 31 Jan In the afternoon, presented training to three sitios in Puguis: Timoy, Bato and Disay. There were 13 growers attending. We covered differences between predatory mites and phytophagous mites and talked about how to use them in their plots. We covered the methods of rearing on a small scale. The main problem is that they do not have access to hand lenses. We took the names of the growers who would like a hand lens and will look for ways to purchase them one each. Maybe they would be willing to put 100P in on a handlens. There were three volunteers who will rear and then release in their fields: Salvador Maclung, Marceline Monang, and Juana Daowan. We will assist and follow their efforts. On Wed. of next week, we will make a first release in their fields and bring them a setup for rearing. They asked good questions and need a handout on the principles of biological control. I will prepare one for next week s meeting. The fogs roll in from La Union at about 2pm during this month. In other months, they can blow in as early as 11:30am. Still think that this could be a good resource for water. It seems that the ridges would be the best for collecting fog. Alex says if they could collect at least 1 drum a day it would be worthwhile. We visited Ronnell s beehives He has two hives. There are some sick bees. They thought it could be mites. We found 1 sick bee and as we watched the bees were tossing out another dead bee. We collected them both. There was a single yellow mite between the thorax and abdomen on both bees. We made slides of them. They are the same mite. We will have to investigate whether they could be tropilaelaps or not. If they are tropilaelaps they feed on the larvae of the bees. We will check next time if there are mites inside the hive. It is a 10 framer hive. There are two hives but we only checked the one that Ronnell opened. We took a soil sample just below the entrance of the hive but there was nothing in it that appeared to be the same mites. We identified the yellow mites to Ameroseius sp. They may pile on in large numbers but they cause no harm to the bees. Can t help think that the large numbers we found at Enrique s bees would not affect foraging capability. Raros mentioned that Ameroseius leclercqi was collected from another hymenoptera (Lestica constricta (Hymenoptera: Crabonidae). 1 Feb Constructed mass rearing PVC tubes for planting and worked on Strawberry IPM Manual. 4 Feb Worked on accounting issues and construction of mass rearing. Planted bushbeans in the PVC tubes and bought the rearing clay pots and the wire mesh for the 3 demo setups in Puguis. 6 Feb Visited Juana s rearing set up. Sampled her field. Visit Marcellina and Salvador s fields to estimate how many predatory mites to release. Worked in the lab.

4 12 Feb Vist welder for new estimate for plant stand. Visit Efraim s farm. Visit Bineng field insectary. 13 Feb Visited Juana s rearing setup. Found spider mites coating the water and the basin and also climbing all over the baskets. What happened to the predators? After looking at many leaves and finding only a single predator she told us that she had released on Saturday because she was so anxious to release. In doing so she released almost her entire colony. We will bring another start. She is keeping them inside her house to increase the reproductive rate. I told her to wash off her basin and change the water so that the spider mites and predators will not escape. Predatory mites can walk across the moat if there are enough floating spider mites and they can also use the webbing of the spider mites to escape especially if the spider mites have crossed to the basin. She reports that the armyworms are beginning to infest and she will need to spray. We offer to purchase Success for her to spray rather than hurt the phytoseiids with a toxic spray. We sampled her lower field where we had released over 400 predators. We scouted Salvadore s plot. He sprayed about two weeks earlier but does not remember what chemical. The spider mites are beginning to increase. He will probably end needing to put on another knockdown spray before he will have enough to release from his own rearing. Marcellina sprayed last Thursday with Padan (Cartap hydrochloride). It is the nereistoxin derivative. Not reported to be an acaricide. Alex says there are health concerns regarding the use of Cartap and it may be a carcinogen. She has too many strawberries for our release to be effective. Her best approach will be choose an area and rear and release in that area and she will be able to compare her results with the other parts of her field. If she can manage it, she can rear several clay pots worth of predatory mites for release and see if they can spread, otherwise just hope for a commercial production by someone. She appears to be the second largest strawberry producer next to Terio Codioman I have seen. We decided not to choose a plot of hers as a demo because the spider mites have already gotten too large in number and it would be a duplicate of Juana s highly infested plot. She is also an influential farmer in the area and an unacceptable performance by the predatory mites because they were used wrong would damage their reputation which they do not deserve. The mites cannot and should not be expected to perform miracles and act like an acaricide. They have limitations just as pesticides. Use of predatory mites must follow some guidelines for farmers to experience success with them. This involves a change from a conventional approach. To be successful they must be released when the infestation is just beginning rather than when populations are already high. 14 Feb Took 350 predators ti rekease. Took rearing pots to Salvadore and Marcellina. Met them both at Salvadore s. Decided that the number of phytoseiids we had were not enough for a release in Salvadore s so we had him start with 100 predators. We gave Marcellina 100 predator s to start her culture with also. We had them put their cultures in a protected structure so that the temperatures will be warmer. Visited Juana she will spray the organic pesticide, Success (Spinosad, cost 900P) for her armyworms and we gave her 50 more predators for release in the lower field. Gave Alex 50 predators for his culture. We decided that we should remain true to the practical use of predatory mites rather than think of

5 them as the wonder-treatment because they are not. Because of the cool temperatures in the hillside areas like the Longlong growers experience it may be that it is not practical to make an early release of N. longispinosus. Like so many other predatory mites, emerging from cold temperatures they are sluggish to reproduce. It is not known if they are in true diapause nevertheless they may not be reliable early on. They should consider a knockdown spray in the beginning while their cultures are climbing in numbers and then release after they have enough. In the valley it is warmer and the predatory mites may be able to reproduce rapidly enough that an early release will be effective. 15 Feb Prepared slides and continued rearing construction Feb Travel to Isabela to visit Dr. Leonila Raros for verification of slides. Rode GL/Lizardo to Roxas, Isabela (around 9 hours). Took a Jeepney to Mabini junction and then a trike to Barangay Pintor. We identified a representative sample of mites that we have mounted. The hairy ones from the Guava are Lasioseius sp. (Ascidae) rather than Phytoseiidae. Paraphytoseius orientalis, N. longispinosus, Amblyseius herbicolous and Amblyseius sp. The spider mite is Eotetranychus sp. Could not identify the Tetranychus on the Trumpet Lily (a good food source for Neoseiulus longispinosus cultures when there are no strawberry leaves with spider mites to feed them.). Either the coverslips are too heavy and flatten specimens too much so that not even the striations are visible, or the PVA also has a tendency to flatten specimens. It is also hard to laterally mount the males and view the aedeagus for identification. 19 Feb Worked in the lab. Finished putting up lights for the second rearing room. Planted the third stand of beans. Last Thursday s beans are beginning to break the surface of the dirt. All our rearing construction is holding up so far. 20 Feb Released in old demo. Established a new demo. Check predatory culture of Eliseo and Salvador. Sample Salvador s field. Check Marcellina s field and Bineng insectary. 21 Feb Worked in lab: brushing samples and mounting specimens. 22 Feb Worked in lab Feb Worked in lab, mounting and identifying specimens. 27 Feb Sampled Juana s old demo and released predators 50 in new demo. Check predators in Salvador s. Visited Bineng field insectary. 28 Feb Lab work. Brushed samples. 29 Feb Lab work. Mounted specimens. Identified specimens. 3 Mar Leave to pick up Dr. Lynell Tanigoshi at Manila airport. 4 Mar Lab work. Check beans and predatory mite cultures. Count predators for release. 5 Mar In La Trinidad, sample and release in Juan s old and new demo plots. Check predatory cultures in Juana, Salvador and Marcelina. Infest lab beans and Bineng field insectary. Tanigoshi and Gerdeman fly to Jakarta. 6 Mar In La Trinidad, laboratory work. Brushed samples. Purchased electrical materials for Berlese funnels. Tanigoshi and Gerdeman fly to Padang. Picked up at airport by staff of Indonesian Tree Fruits Research Institute of Solok. 7 Mar In la Trinidad, laboratory. In Solok, meet staff of ITFRI and present culture methods of predatory mites on a small scale. Affandi discusses the problem of th thrips scarring on the mangosteen. Visit mangosteen producer in Solok to view

6 thrips scarring problem on export. It is severe and Taiwan will not purchase such damaged fruit. A lot of culls used for local juice consumption. Taiwan marks fruit as its own. Indonesia not credited. Lack of export options. US will not import due to Mediterranean Fruit Fly threat. Affandi has been surveying the predatory mites on the mangosteen and says there is an ascid that is prevalent on the leaves and wonders if it is feeding on the thrips eggs and if so how to mass rear an ascid. 8 Mar Sampled predators in laboratory. Visit field site near mountainous area. See Mangosteen orchard mixed with other trees such as Cacao. 10 Mar Visited Bineng field insectary in La Trinidad. Final presentation in Indonesia then travel from Padang to Jakarta. Will try to expand into Indonesia in coming years to work with this institute. 11 Mar Fly from Jakarta to Manila. Travel to Manila to pick up Gerdeman and Tanigoshi. 12 Mar Courtesy call for Tanigoshi and Gerdeman to Mayor Galwan and Governor Fongwan. 13 Mar Training seminar for strawberry farmers, visit Bineng field insectary. 14 Mar Opening festivities of strawberry festival. 15 Mar Tanigoshi and Gerdeman travel back to Manila. 17 Mar Tanigoshi departure from Manila Mar Holy Week Mar Visit field sites, brush samples. Final meeting with Longlong growers. Check cooperators predatory mite rearing set-ups. 27 Mar Meet with Mayor Galwan. Show commercial style predatory mite product Anti-Mite. Propose demo in swamp after discussing with Rodolfo the need for a segregated area in swamp that can be saved for those swamp growers wishing to use less pesticides. 28 Mar Meet with Governor Fongwan. Discuss Jan-Mar accomplishments. Show prototype of commercial style product. Discuss demo in swamp area as did with Galwan. Governor calls task-force meeting on 9 Apr. Leave for Los Banos. 30-Mar- 4 Apr Prepare presentation for 9 Apr. Final preparation for departure. 8 Apr Return to La Trinidad for presentation on Apr 9. 9 Apr Task force meeting with Governor in Provincial Capitol. Inter Agency 2008 Direction The following agencies participated: LGU La Trinidad, LGU Benguet, Bureau of Plant Industry, Department of Agriculture, Fertilizer Pesticide Authority, Benguet State University, Washington State University. The entire community is wanting to change the strawberry industry by reducing the amount of pesticides. Utilizing predatory mites will force them to reduce pesticides and with BPI and FPA monitoring residues in the demo the farmers will conform. Discussion on which farmers to select, and what to base criteria. They will try to offer them free planting material as an incentive. 9 Apr Return to Los Banos after meeting. 11 Apr Depart Manila.