The council of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat in its meeting on Monday resolved that a study team of agriculture scientists should submit a report on whether farmers spraying new brands of liquid solutions to control ‘kole roga’ (fruit rot disease) in arecanut has resulted in crop loss in the district.
The team, the council resolved, should comprise scientists from the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) as well as the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments.
President of the panchayat Asha Thimmappa Gowda instructed the officials of the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments to take necessary steps to this effect, as arecanut was a major commercial crop of the district.
R. Chennappa Kotian, a member from Mani, said these liquid solutions were being marketed as organic products – prefixed with ‘bio’ – to control the disease. Mr. Kotian said that these had failed to control the disease and farmers were being cheated by the manufacturers.
He said the manufacturers of those brands claim that once sprayed the liquid solutions prevented the disease for three months. However, there were instances of the disease recurring within a month and a half of spraying them, resulting in crop loss.
Mr. Kotian – who is an areacnut grower – said that he himself was a victim of the product. He said that personally he lost 25 quintals of arecanut to the disease last year, and predicted a loss of 15 quintals this year, even after spraying one of those solutions.
Kota Srinivasa Poojary, MLC, suggested that the team could also have representatives of the Standing Committee on Agriculture in the zilla panchayat. If the committee gave its report, such farmers who had suffered loss even after spraying them could approach consumer court, the MLC said.
The members were unhappy that agriculture research stations, including the CPCRI, Krishi Vignana Kendras and agriculture universities, had not been able to find out a permanent solution to ‘kole roga’.
Mamatha Gatti, a former president of the panchayat and member from Thumbe, said that scientists of the CPCRI were not doing much to this effect and its scientists were not keen to spend more time in fields.
Survey on extent of ‘kole roga’
President of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Asha Thimmappa Gowda on Monday instructed the Horticulture Department to conduct a survey on how many arecanut plantations have ‘kole roga’ in the district now and submit a report. After several members in the panchayat’s council meeting said that ‘kole roga’ has hit arecanut again on a large scale this year, the president said that the loss should be studied. She said that the report would be sent to the government.The president said the disease could have hit about 70 per cent of plantations in the district.
