Early detection of pest attack in paddy crop will help entomologists control pests and save 10,000 hectares of standing crop in the block. Speedy implementation of control measures will prevent loss, according to Deputy Director of Agriculture D. Chandrasekaran.
Inspecting pest-affected areas along with a team of experts, including entomologist and pathologists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, at Kokilapuram village on Tuesday, he said army worm attack was detected in the fields.
Entomologists also found early infestation of leaf folder. The larvae folded leaves, ate green tissues and produced white streaks.
Rise in humidity in the fields increased the pest attack, and it would spread from one field to another through irrigation water, he added.
Blast disease had also attacked paddy fields, but the damage was not much as the crop was only 25 days old. The team also collected samples for laboratory tests to check whether there was any viral attack in plants.
The Deputy Director advised agriculture officers to strengthen inspection of paddy fields to discover problems at early stage.
Earlier, paddy farmers complained to the officials that pests and diseases attacked a large extant of paddy fields in Uthamapalyam block and asked the experts to visit the fields.
The experts warned that indiscriminate and unwanted use of pesticide would be harmful to the natural enemies of these pests and also caused environmental pollution.
A team of experts, comprising entomologist K. Suresh, pathologist A. Vijaya Samundeeswari and Assistant Director of Agriculture Raj Manoharan, inspected more than seven paddy fields and suggested control measures to farmers.
A section of farmers in Uthamapalyam had recently informed the officials of pest attack and sought their advice to control it.
