Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Tag: Pathogenic

RCPC technical staff upskill for standardization, prod’n of biological control agents

Posted on by cmn

MARAMAG, BUKIDNON – To ensure the production of quality fungus which will be distributed to the local farmers in Northern Mindanao, some technical staff of the Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC) of the DA-RFO 10 underwent training in Central Mindanao University

Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 10 Regional Executive Director Carlene C. Collado stressed that the production and distribution of the quality fungus could be the basis for the management protocol and its application in the field.

Lucille T. Minguez, RCPC Chief along with the seven technical staff under the Entomopathogen and Trichoderma laboratories conducted spores counting and dilution technique necessary for standardization in the production of Biological Control Agents (BCAs).

Dr. Carolina Amper of the Plant Pathology Department, College of Agriculture in CMU discussed and demonstrated the spores counting of Trichoderma harzianum using a heamacytometer.

The standardization of spore suspension is vital in conducting pathogenicity and inoculation of BCA by determining the population.

Dr. Amper demonstrated the proper dilution techniques to determine the counting of colonies on plates necessary for the isolation of inoculum for soil-borne pathogens. (DA RFO-10)

Now it’s highly pathogenic bird flu

Posted on by cmn

Authorities are still trying to determine how the African swine fever virus managed to jump from Luzon to Mindanao. A thousand pigs have been culled in Davao Occidental after confirmation of ASF contamination – the first outside Luzon since the virus was detected in Rizal province last year.

Authorities are still trying to determine how the African swine fever virus managed to jump from Luzon to Mindanao. A thousand pigs have been culled in Davao Occidental after confirmation of ASF contamination – the first outside Luzon since the virus was detected in Rizal province last year.

While ASF is not known to jump to humans, it has devastated the local hog industry, especially backyard swine raisers. With the virus reaching Mindanao, Cebu has further tightened measures to protect its local breeders as well as its thriving lechon and chicharon enterprises.

Even before authorities have established how ASF entered Davao Occidental, the national government will have to guard against the emergence of yet another pathogen. A statement over the weekend from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs declared that H5N1 – a “highly pathogenic subtype” of avian influenza – had killed 4,500 chickens in a farm in Shaoyang City, prompting the local government to cull nearly 18,000 chickens.

Shaoyang is in Hunan province, which is located next to Hubei, epicenter of the raging novel coronavirus outbreak.

Unlike ASF, bird flu can be transmitted to humans. Since 2003, the World Health Organization has recorded 455 human deaths in several countries due to H5N1 flu. The disease can also be as devastating to the poultry industry as ASF is to hog raisers. Highly pathogenic avian flu has killed millions of birds and domestic fowl around the world and caused the destruction of massive numbers of eggs.
Source: (The Philippine Star) – February 4, 2020 – 12:00am