Karnataka - Raichur   

Pest attacks worry Raichur farmers

DISEASED: Affected sunflower crop in a field in Deodurga taluk in Raichur district.

Raichur: Farmers in the district who have cultivated paddy, sunflower and cotton during the late kharif season this year, are happy with the growth of their crops, but they are also worried because the crops have been infested with pests.

Paddy has been sown in 67,000 hectares of land in Sindhanur, Manvi and parts of Raichur taluks, sunflower in 1.1 lakh hectares and Bt cotton in 25,000 hectares in the five taluks in the district.

According to a recent study by a team of scientists from the Agricultural Research Station here, the standing crops face the threat of attack by the heliothesis moth. The pest menace has spread extensively especially in Deodurga and Manvi taluks affecting paddy, cotton and sunflower crops.

In a report submitted to the Agriculture Department here, the experts declared sunflower and Bt cotton crops in Deodurga and Manvi taluks as the worst hit during this season. Common pests such as yellow mites and mirid bugs have attacked Bt cotton fields.

The infestation has resulted in yellowing of leaves and defoliation. The disorder can be controlled by spraying Dicofol or water-soluble sulphur.

The standing paddy crop in Sindhanur, Manvi and parts of Raichur taluk has been infested with bacterial blight. The disease will reduce yield. Spread of the disease can be controlled by repeated spraying of Streptocyline or Copper oxy-chloride every ten days.

Sunflower, which had been grown on a large scale in the district, has been affected by pests resulting in defoliation and boring of pods. The pests – leaf defoliators and head borers — can be controlled by spraying of Endosulphan, Quinolphos, Cypermethrin or Fenvelerate.

According to the Agriculture Department here, it has not been able to meet the requirement of the farmers in respect of pest management. However, the department has distributed some pesticides to the farmers in the affected taluks through raitha samparka kendras.

Chamarasa Malipatil, vice-president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangh, told The Hindu on Tuesday that farmers who had cultivated paddy, sunflower and cotton were facing a shortage of pesticides.

The Agriculture Department had failed to depute its entomologists to control the pest attacks and distribute pesticides to small and marginal farmers.

It had also failed to control marketing of spurious pesticides, he added.

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