Jaleswar: Farmers in north Balasore are worried over a disease called Bacterial Panicle Blight (BPB) that has been affecting their paddy crop.
According to a rough estimate, about 40 per cent of the paddy shoots in the region have dried while farmers are desperately trying all kinds of preventive measures, but with little success. Farmers said, “Paddy shoots have come out, but 40 per cent of them have turned dry. Even patches of farmlands amid greenery have turned white under impact of the bacterial disease. The problem cropped up during the unseasonal rains at the time of Diwali. Since then, the disease has been continuing to spread unchecked.”
Farmers lamented that though they have been frequenting to agriculture office for consultation and applied all prescribed pesticides and chemicals, nothing works to check the pest onslaught. They apprehend that they will have nothing for the harvest, if urgent steps are not taken by the agriculture department to arrest the situation. Some farmers and people’s representatives have drawn the attention of the local agriculture officer, the deputy director of agriculture, local MLA, the MP, the collector and even the agriculture minister towards the pest problem.
Sources in the agriculture department said khaiff paddy cultivation was done in 20,300 hectares under Jaleswar block this year. Swarna variety was cultivated in 14,000 hectares. Some farmers had sown the government-supplied paddy seeds while other had purchased seeds from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Swarna variety has been extensively cultivated in panchayats including Laxmannath, Gobaraghata, Khalina, Baiganabadia, Paschimabard, Rayaramchandrapur, Sugo, Nachhimpur, Netua, Sampatia, Namphe, Rajpur, the municipality area, Aruha, Gopimohanpur, Shyamnagar, Raibania, Khuarda, Olamara, Kaunrpur and Chamargan. Most of the farmers alleged that Swarna variety of paddy has been the biggest victim of the pest attack.
A week ago, Sugo sarpanch Dinesh Jena and village level worker Snigdha Priyadarshini intimated to officials at various levels that 60 per cent of the paddy shoots in Sugo and Nachhimpur have dried and flattened.
Agriculture officer Sarat Chandra Sethi described the problem as one caused by BPB. “It is a bacterial disease and bacteria usually lie hidden in seeds, but manifest and multiply themselves when paddy starts flowering. The bacteria usually grow faster in inclement weather conditions- if it is too hot in the day time and extremely cold at night,” he added.
Sethi observed that no pesticide will prevent spread of the disease, but the departmental higher-ups have been urged to take up effective scientific methods to contain it.
District agriculture officer Kiran Kumar Parida said he has been finding this disease in Bhograi and Baliapal areas for the last two years.
Local farmers apprehend that if quick preventive measures are not taken on a war-footing, their condition will worsen. They urged the agriculture authorities to pay attention to the problem. PNN
