Oupada: The farmers in the Oupada area of Balasore are worried as the paddy crop on thousands of acres is facing a threat from pests. While farmers are apprehensive about crop damage, the agriculture department is said to be sitting pretty doing nothing to tackle the pests.
The unexpected scourge has added to the woes of farmers who are already affected by scanty rainfall.
The pest problem is acute in Talakia panchayat. Barendra Hati and Janaki Hati, two famers of the area, have farms close to the agriculture office. They said that due to pest attacks paddy plants are wilting. Similarly, over an acre of land belonging to Purnachandra Samal in Janikipal village in Gadashi panchayat was also hit by the onslaught of pests.
Samal said that agriculture officials termed the problem as ‘Mahisa’ disease and recommended pesticides without visiting the field. Although Samal sprayed pesticide, it was not effective. Finally, he uprooted some paddy plants and showed them at a pesticide shop and brought an antidote, he added.
The pest attack also hit the paddy crop of two other farmers of Janikipal — Karunakar Poi and Jayram Samal.
Farmers lamented that while their farms have been hit by scanty rainfall, the pest menace is fast spreading in panchayats like Talakia, Gadasahi, Ray Ramchandrapur, Aghirapada, Badapokhari and Fatehpur.
Farmers say that if immediate steps are not taken the paddy crop on hundreds of acres will be lost this year.
Meanwhile, many other farmers like Prabhakar Satpathy of Chitradeipur and Sankarshan Sahu of Sriramkhuli also apprised agriculture officials of their problems.
Agriculture officer Akshay Kumar Sahu said the situation cropped up due to adverse weather conditions and excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer. He said that preventive steps will be taken after a field survey. However, he admitted the agriculture office does not have pesticides to control the pests. PNN
