Karlamunda: Disgusted with pests, a farmer of Kandarei village in Kalahandi district Tuesday set afire to his paddy crop he had raised in over an acre of his farmland.
Farmer Khageshwar Bhoi of Sapalahara panchayat of this block surprised everyone by his decision to torch his paddy field to destroy pests. However, tehsil officials feigned ignorance about the development.
Bhoi, who has two acres of land, had raised paddy by borrowing from local lenders and pooling all his resources. He had cultivated Swarna variety of paddy over on an acre of land and another variety in the remaining farmland.
Similar reports of brown hopper pest (BHP) attack and subsequent crop loss have emanated from different parts of Joradabra and Sapalahara panchayats under the block.
Bhoi had hoped that the cultivation will give him good returns with which he could repay his debts and earn for his family of four including his wife and children. But, his hopes were shattered after brown hopper pests devoured his Swarna paddy crops.
This pushed him into distress as he employed all kinds of tricks to get rid of the pests and tried different types of pesticides on the advice of agriculture officials and locals.
However, the pesticides failed to contain the pests which soon spread rapidly all over his farmland and destroyed his crops. Left with no option and out of deep anguish he torched his Swarna crops in his farmland.
When contacted, tehsildar (in-charge) Sarbeshwar Jal said he is not aware of the development and said he came to know about it from this correspondent.
He, however, said he would ask Joradabra revenue inspector to investigate the matter and submit a report at the earliest. Members of a farmer’s outfit, Karlamunda Krushak Kalyan Manch, have demanded compensation for the affected farmer.
