Our very own faculty member, Ms. Jerah Mystica B. Novenario, had her agricultural research published as the cover story for the March 2024 issue of The Philippine Agricultural Scientist. Her paper is titled “Feeding Behavior of Sweet Potato Weevil, Cylas formicarius (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Brentidae) on Three Sweet Potato, Ipomoea batatas L. Cultivars Grown in Tarlac, Philippines.”

In the study, co-authored with Flor A. Ceballo-Alcantara, Ms. Novenario closely examined how the sweet potato weevil pest feeds on different cultivars of the crop. Sweet potato is an important food source in many tropical countries like the Philippines. Through controlled experiments, the authors found that contrary to local farmer beliefs, the sweet potato weevil fed on and damaged all three tested cultivars equally. There were no significant differences between male and female weevils in their feeding time or the amount of tubers consumed.
This research sheds new light on managing this crop pest and preventing economic losses for our sweet potato farmers.
Join us in congratulating Ms. Novenario on this notable publication! Her work demonstrates our university’s commitment to agricultural science in the service of local communities and food security.
Read the paper thru:
https://pas.uplb.edu.ph/…/feeding-behavior-of-sweet…/