Bolangir: Farmers in various parts of this district are a worried lot as pest attack on paddy has been spreading despite use of pesticides.
They accused the agriculture officers and experts of doing little to find an effective solution to this persisting problem.
Sources in the office of the deputy director of agriculture said the pest (locally known as Chakada) has affected 911 hectares in the district by the end of October while paddy in 127 hectares was completely damaged.
The pest is spreading in hundreds of acres in scores of villages under 14 blocks. The worst affected blocks were Deogaon, Bolangir, Titlagarh, Puintala and Gudvela. Paddy plant leaves are getting wilted and scorched in Kurul, Mahimunda and other nearby villages even though the farmers have applied pesticides.
Meanwhile, upset over the problem, some farmers have set ablaze their damaged paddy at Kudasingha, Sahajbahal and Jhareibahal. They said due to good rains plants have grown luxuriantly, but the pest has dashed their hopes of a good harvest this year.
The farmers have been running from block agriculture office to their farmland, seeking advice from experts to save their crops, but to no avail.
It is explained that after the rains suddenly stopped, atmospheric temperature has gone up, causing the paddy leaves to wilt. The affected farmers were lamenting how they could repay the loans they had taken from cooperative banks and borrowed from private moneylenders in case of crop failure.
Paddy crops of many farmers like Baleswar Patel, Pradip Nayak, Jalandhar Deep, Sachkant Rout, Gobinda Patel, Bibhuti Patel, Maheswar Nayak, Lohita Patel and Pitabash Seth were completely damaged.
“All plants have got blighted. The pesticides are not effective,” said a harried farmer. Others lamented that they have spent a lot on pesticide, but it yielded no results.
Bolangir deputy director of agriculture, Sridhar Das, said officials had made field visits and studied the crop condition. Farmers are being made aware of preventive measures while pest attack has been contained at some places, he asserted.
PNN