Farmers who have thrown out deadly pesticides from their gardens as part of organic farming have now taken to a new variety of pheromone traps to control pests and enjoy a good harvest.
Officials with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Peruvannamoozhi say they have sold 175 such traps to farmers, who are using it along with other natural remedies to keep pests at bay in their home garden.
“We supply two varieties of pheromone traps, methyl eugenol and cue-lure, for farmers engaged in fruit and vegetable cultivation,” they say.
K.K. Aiswarya, subject matter specialist in plant protection at the KVK, says the pheromone trap is regarded as a cost-effective method and it effectively controls male flies that attack vegetables and fruits.
A single trap can cover 15 cents, she adds.
The price of pheromone traps compared to toxic pesticides is very cheap as it employs a very simple technique to attract the flies and kill them. Fruit farmers get the methyl eugenol trap from the KVK at Rs.125 and vegetable farmers, the cue-lure trap at Rs.100.
“For my vegetable garden, it has been found very effective and there are several new farmers who opt for it after seeing our experiments,” says Sadananda Paleri, a farmer in the district.
He says bitter gourd cultivation in his yard is thriving thanks to the pheromone technique. KVK officials say they are getting several enquires since January following a spurt in the summer farming initiatives in the district. “For farmers from remote areas, we are also arranging supply from the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR),” they add.
