Identification of Insects Associated with Sugarcane in Barangay Panaglib, Kiblawan, Davao Del Sur

Identification of Insects Associated with Sugarcane in Barangay Panaglib,

Kiblawan, Davao del Sur

ROGINE A. SAMBILAD

An Undergraduate Thesis Submitted to the

B.S. Biology Program

Natural Sciences Department

College of Arts and Sciences

University of Southeastern Philippines

Barrio Obrero, Davao City

As Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of

B.S. Biology

February 2014

CHAPTER I[pic 1][pic 2]

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study 

        Sugarcane is considered to be one of the most valuable crops in the world (Mendoza, 2000). It forms essential items for industries like sugar, chipboard and paper (Ayub et al., 1999). Furthermore, it is widely grown in the tropical and subtropical areas as food and energy source like fuel in industrialized and developing countries (Mendoza, 2000).        Economic interest in sugarcane has increased significantly in recent years due to the increased worldwide demands (Cheavegatti-Gianotto et al., 2011).

        In the Philippines, sugar is among the country’s major agricultural exports (Carambas, 2011). It constituted 6% of all agricultural crops and with millions of Filipinos dependent on sugar industry for livelihood (Mendoza, 2000). Kiblawan has the largest sugarcane area and is number one in production among the 14 municipalities in Davao del Sur. As of crop year 2011-2012, the municipality produced 94,842.40 tons of sugarcane (Llorente, Jr., 2013).

        Yield of sugarcane is evidently influenced by many factors like soil fertility, climate, prevalence of pest and diseases and environmental stress. Moreover, it is a long duration crop and therefore prone to be attacked insect pests and diseases (Xavier & Dayana, 2012). Some insects are major destroyers that caused considerable loss in yield and quality of the crop (Hussnain et al., 2007).  According to an estimate, sugarcane production declines by 20.0% and 19.0% by insect pests and diseases respectively (Xavier & Dayana, 2012).

        Insects are the largest and the most diverse group of organisms (Inayat et al., 2010). More than 1,500 speciesinhabited the sugarcane fields (Hussnain et al., 2007). They have great potential for understanding ecosystem as measure of ecosystem health, but incomplete knowledge and the limited of resources increase the difficulty of work on insect biodiversity (Ahmed et al., 2004).  

        Limited studies have been executed on insects in sugarcanes in Davao del Sur as confirmed by the scarcity of literature. Hence, the study can help in the improvement of production of sugarcanes through the identification of insects in the field.

Objectives of the Study

        This study generally aims to morphologically characterize insects in the sugarcane field in Barangay Panaglib, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. Specifically, the study aims to:

1. identify insects up to family level;
2. classify insects whether it is a pest or natural inhabitants of the study area and;
3. determine the physico-chemical parameter such as temperature, rainfall and relative humidity.

Significance of the Study

        Sugarcane is an important source of income and employment for the farming community. Analysis of insect population in sugarcane field is required for interpreting and forecasting the response of different orders to weather patterns varying seasonally (Ramamurthy et al., 2010). Moreover, the study of insect fauna in the sugarcane field of Barangay Panaglib, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur will provide basic information on their population density and diversity. The determination of insect species will provide important data which can serve as a baseline material for future studies. In addition, the study can be helpful to biological management of the sugarcane insect pests in the field. Furthermore, proper timescale precaution measures like application and selection of pesticides and quantity can be predicted (Xavier & Dayana, 2012).

Scope and Limitation

        The study was conducted only in one of the sugarcane field in Barangay Panaglib, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. The duration of the study was limited only to the designated representative months of the two major seasons of the country, May and June. Only flying insects were studied and were identified up to family level based on their morphological characteristics described in dichotomous keys available. There are several traps that can be used in insect collection such as windowpane trap, malaise trap, pitfall and dish trap, yellow pan trap, emergence trap, light trap, stick trap, snap trap and electrical grid trap. Only Malaise and light trap were used in the study as recommended by Dr. Larry V. Aceres. In addition, the study area was restricted on the luminous capacity of the light trap which corresponds to the total area of the field. Collected insects were classified as pest or natural inhabitant based on available literature only.

CHAPTER II[pic 3]

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Cultivation of Sugarcane in the Philippines

        Sugarcane is a tall perennial grass of the family Poaceae that is represented by a stout, jointed and fibrous stalk. It is native in tropical regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia having humid climate (Srivastava & Rai, 2012). The maturity duration of the crop is about eight to twenty four months for the maximum growth and production. It also requires hot, humid and sunny conditions (Zada et al., 2012).  

        The sugarcane industry plays an important role in the Philippine economy because its production is highly profitable (Carambas, 2011). Its content can be used to sweeten foodstuff, molasses (thickened sugarcane juice) and alcohol (by product of sugar processing). Consequently, most of the sugarcane produced in the country goes to domestic market. It is grown in more than 120 countries of which Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, Columbia, Australia, Philippines and USA are the top ten in production (Srivastava & Rai, 2012). For the last five years (2006-2010), the area planted to sugarcane averaged 388.7 thousand hectares and the volume of production averaged around 22 million metric tons annually (PHILSURIN, 2008).