A trapper to catch red palm weevil (locally called kuruvai), which damages coconut palms and other crop, attracted visitors at the one-day district krishi utsav and jalanayana mela that was organised by the Department of Agriculture here on Tuesday.
A representative of the company, which exhibited the trapper, said that a tablet of a pheromone should be put at the top of the trapper and the bottom should be filled with water.
Attracted by the pheromone, the red palm weevils will fall in the water and die after a day.
One such tablet in a trapper is capable of attracting the weevils affecting as many as 100 palms.
A tablet lasted six months, he said and added that it could be kept anywhere in coconut gardens.
The exhibition had seeds of vegetables, tissue cultured banana plants, machines used in paddy cultivation, display of pest and disease control measures in paddy, books and the like.
Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology B. Ramanath Rai and Minister of State for Youth Empowerment and Sports and Fisheries K. Abhayachandra Jain, who were supposed to attend the inaugural session, did not attend.
President of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Asha Thimmappa Gowda inaugurated the mela. There were sessions on organic farming, modern paddy cultivation methods and use of machineries in paddy farming.
A participant told The Hindu that the mela would have attracted many people had there been enough publicity.
