Rasulpur: Rasulpur block in Jajpur district is predominantly an agricultural block where a majority of residents earn their living from cultivation, a report said.
Farmers living in various villages under this block have earned a special name in vegetable cultivation as they always experiment and adopt new techniques and knowledge to better their returns from farming.
Recently, the farmers have undertaken capsicum cultivation in their areas in which the return is very profitable.
However, leaf curling and wilting disease has suddenly affected the capsicum cultivation, farmer Sisir Rout said. They were expecting a better harvest and a return ranging from Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh per acre when the disease has left them shocked.
Reports said a farmer initially invests Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 for planting of 8-10,000 saplings for cultivation in an acre. Later, he needs to invest Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 towards medicines and pesticides and Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 on irrigation and harvesting.
If all goes well and the climate is conducive, then a farmer can easily harvest 100 quintals of capsicum from an acre and earn around Rs 3 lakh if the market rate for per kg of vegetable remains at Rs 30.
The return will go up if the market rate exceeds Rs 30. Farm scientists held the farmers responsible for the disease. They said the farmers could prevent the disease by making treatment of the soil, seeds and saplings before the cultivation.
When contacted, Lalit Mohanty, agriculture scientist of Krushi Vigyan Kendra in Barchana visited farmers to make treatment of soil, seeds and saplings before undertaking cultivation.
He said farmers could use neem cake powder or chemicals like Trichoderma viride for soil treatment. Similarly, Bavistin fungicide should be used for seed treatment. They should also apply thiamethoxam for treatment of saplings after 20-25 days of their plantation.
PNN