Bolangir, Oct 28: Fed up with pest-attack and severe crop loss, farmers of Sahajbahal and Jhareibahali village under Sadar block in Bolangir district set their crop on fire. The angry farmers attributed the extreme measure to severe pest infestation.
It may be noted here that such incidents were reported from more than 10 districts in the state last year.
According to the farmers, they found the pesticides they purchased to be ineffective against the pests, which then quickly spread across fields. They said they were further depressed and angered by the district administration’s apathy to their plight, which prompted them to resort to burning the crop.
This was the first incident of torching paddy crop in the state this year.
According to sources, a farmer, Ashok Kumar Pradhan of Jhareibahal village had cultivated paddy in his three-acre farm. However, the crop were infested by pests and got damaged, bringing him huge loss. Frustrated, Pradhan set the farmland on fire.
Similar was the fate of farmers of Sadar block, Deogaon, Gudvela, Paintala and Agalpur block where thousands of acres of paddy crop are infested by pests, reports said.
Angry farmers blamed the agriculture department of not providing adequate amount of pesticides on time.
Farmers said the pest attacks had dashed the hopes they had placed on the Kharif harvest and alleged that the Director of Agriculture had taken no ameliorative measure although they had alerted the official of the situation. “They do not even spread awareness about the situation,” a farmer claimed.
The farmers demanded an honest investigation of the situation and sought compensation for crop loss and waiver of agricultural loans. They said they intend to hold mass protests if supportive measures were not taken.
A team from the centre Saturday visited the pest-affected villages and prepared a report of the loss suffered by the farmers. They assured to provide pesticides immediately.
When contacted, district deputy director of agriculture Sridhar Das said that he had no reports of farmers torching their paddy crop. He assured to look into the matter and take necessary action.
PNN
