Corn grower Pentagon Agribusiness Corp. is the first commercial crop farm that is willing to undergo commercial application of new zero chemical pest management using the sex hormones of female moths to attract male in the process of leading to reduced contact and further reproduction of these insects.

Pentagon president and CEO Arlene Valera in fact forged an agreement with Dr. Partho Dhang, entomologist and technical director of Pest Science International, international division of Pest Science Corp. of US, for the application of sex hormone in the 120-hectare Japanese sweet corn farms of Pentagon located at Floridablanca and Mexico, Pampanga.

As designed, the sex pheromone-a hormone secreted by female moths-is synthesized (or manufactured in a laboratory and placed in a rubber septum which when exposed to 27 degrees or more will expand, thereby releasing in minute quantities the female hormones that will now attract males to the septum inside a sealed plastic container trap.

Pest Science has been experimenting on different insect hormones to decimate the severity of pest attacks in farms in the US, Europe and India. In the 15 years and 17 people doing the experimentation and synthesizing, Pest Science was able to develop and perfect four sex pheromones to control farm pests and these are: rice stem borers, tomato fruit worm; cut worm (which affects almost all types of farms and vegetation) and sugarcane entomode larvae.

"In eight seconds at 100-meter distance great masses of male moths-thinking that a female moth is waiting for a mate-go to the septum containing the sec pheromone. Once there they cannot leave the septum container and die naturally from suffocation and overcrowding," Dhan, an Indian national said.

Dhang has been with Pest Science International for several years now and has successfully introduced and applied this technology to several commercial farms in India.

Valera's interest in the sex pheromone was triggered when during an inspection of potential corn farms early this month in Bukidnon, he met a Filipino executive in a multinational fruit company who talked about the sex pheromone and shared Dhang's number to him. Immediately, he contacted Dhang and asked for a briefing. Now, they are arranging for the commercial application of this technology in 10 days in both corn farms in Pampanga.

Valera said he had been looking for new farm technologies that would reduce his cost of chemicals (pesticides) while getting rid of pests without harming both corn quality and the environment.

Valera said he had been looking for new farm technologies that would reduce his cost of chemicals (pesticides) while getting rid of pests without harming both corn quality and the environment.

"Dhang and I are working on a three-phased application: first at 50 percent replacement of chemical pesticide with sex pheromone, rising to 75 percent in the second phase and then to 100 percent sex pheromone usage or zero chemical," Valera said.

Valera currently uses P7,000 worth of chemical pesticides per hectare per season and since his sweet corn is harvested every 60-65 days, this means higher cost of chemicals to his total production cost.

In addition, Valera has also been using a combination of organic fertilization with some chemicals-using both composting materials and his corn stems which because they are harvested very green yet are returned to the soil as additional fertilizer.

Using the sex pheromone traps (at 8 to 10 traps per hectare) with each septum calculated at either 30, 45 or 60 days effectivity, then there is reduced labor cost (since there is no more chemical spraying and rigid pest monitoring to be done) and the direct saving from shifting from chemicals to sex pheromone is about 50 percent or more, Valera said.

"I can use whatever savings to other areas of improving farm productivity and market improvements strategies," Valera said.