Jeypore: Farmers in Jeypore sub-division of Koraput district are a worried lot. Thousands of farmers suffered loss of rabi paddy as pests like stem borers damaged crops in acres, a report said.
Farmers alleged that though they had applied pesticides, it was not effective in containing the disease. “Unseasonal rains and hailstorms helped the pest spread fast on acres of rabi crops,” they rued.
Braving all odds, farmers, however, managed to harvest whatever paddy was spared by the pest. “We had stocked the harvested paddy in the yards. Again rains lashed the area soaking the entire paddy lying in the open,” some farmers lamented.
Paddy was damaged by pests across thousands of acres in Digapur, Phampuni, Kaliagan, Dangar Paunsi, Tankua, Dangarchhi, Anta, Jamunda, Kanga and Hadia panchayats under this sub-division.
“The unseasonal rain and pest attack has broken our economic backbone at this time of COVID-19 crisis,” some farmers lamented. Meanwhile, the district administration has launched mandis for procurement of rabi paddy at 63 places in the district.
19 LAMPS and 14 SHGs were allowed to procure paddy from farmers. At this crisis time, farmers have opposed ‘katnichhatni’ at the mandis.
Jaypore MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati urged the Collector to ensure that the procurers should not reduce paddy weight during the procurement. He said that the state government should help out the affected farmers at this critical juncture. He warned that if the demands of the affected farmers were not met, they will stage agitation.
PNN