Spread of parasitic weed worries tobacco growers

More than 50% of the crop in over 36,000 hectares affected

In crisis: A tobacco grower showing the infested crop near Chekurupadu on Wednesday.

Tobacco farmers, who are already reeling under the impact of prolonged dry spell, are spending sleepless nights owing to “alarming spread” of the parasitic weed Orabanche cernua , in the fields.

More than 50% of the crop in over 36,000 hectares in the Ongole region has been affected by the flowering parasite on tobacco roots, impacting productivity by 25% from an average production ranging between 1,600 kg and 1,800 kg per hectare in the Southern Black Soil (SBS) and 1,000 kg and 1,300 kg in the Southern Light Soil region, according to Indian Tobacco Association (ITA) sources.

Orabanche cernua infestation is rampant in patches and may impact productivity, opines Southern Black Soil regional manager G. Umamaheswara Rao, who was accompanied by a team of experts, comprising Central Tobacco Research Centre, Rajamahendravaram, to the fields on Wednesday.

Impact on productivity

As a result, tobacco production in Prakasam district, the traditional tobacco growing area, is likely to fall below the 50 million kg mark this year as against 75 million kg last year.

The weed infestation also meant a poor grade out-turn with bright grade accounting for only about 40% of the total production, the medium grade accounting for 25%, and low grade and greens accounting for the remaining.

The severity of the parasitic weed infestation ranged from 100% to 10% in each field, the sources added.

The scientists, who included Kasturi Krishnan and Y. Subbaiah, from the CTRI suggested that the farmers go for trap crops such as sorghum, green gram, and sesame in kharif.

Director of Central Tobacco Research Institute, Kandukur, M. Anuradha, asked the farmers to go for crop rotation and deep ploughing during summer to cope with the parasitic infestation.

Pouring out their woes, farmers led by Ongole II auction platform ryots president V.V. Prasad, offered to provide a demonstration farm free of cost and wanted the scientists to hold demonstration on growing tobacco free of parasitic weed infestation.