INQUIRER Global Nation

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte ? Coconut farms here have been experiencing beetle infestation although this has not reached an alarming level, a government agriculturist said yesterday.

Maasin agriculturist Manuel Acasio, however, said there was a need to address the presence of Plesispa sp., a two-colored coconut leaf beetle that attacks the tender shoots of a coconut palm and the leaves of a young coconut tree. He said the pest has affected at least six barangays in Maasin City.

Meanwhile, Cora Dueñas of Philippine Coconut Authority in the province said the Brontispa longissima, another coconut leaf beetle, has started infesting the coconut trees in the hinterlands of Southern Leyte. INQUIRER