Farmers gherao DDA office in Sambalpur

Sambalpur: The office of the Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) in Sambalpur was gheroaed by farmers today alleging widespread crop damage due to pest attack in several parts of the district. According to sources, hundreds of acres of land with standing paddy crops in Sambalpur have been affected by Brown Plant Hopper (BPH), popularly known as ‘Chakada Poka’ in local parlance.

There is only one DDA in-charge for both Sambalpur and Deogarh districts, which is reportedly the main reason behind lack of proper attention to curb pest menace in the area. Farmers have threatened to intensify their agitation demanding appropriate measures to address the issue.

"There is a need of a permanent DDA. A review of the situation and intervention of district administration is also needed on the issue. It is a serious issue and we have apprised the Collector about it, but even he is silent. If the problem is not addressed, the farmers will take to streets with full force," said farmer leader, Ashok Pradhan.

On the other hand, DDA, Khagendra Nath Jena was unavailable to comment on the matter.

Earlier this month, Jena had informed that in three blocks of the district- Dhanakauda, Maneswar and Jujumura, paddy has been cultivated in 14,610 hectares of land while around 660 hectare of land has been affected by pests. Five teams have been formed make farmers aware about the pests and methods to control it, he had said.

A team of agriculture experts on April 21 had reviewed the situation in several parts of Sambalpur after a directive of the District Collector, Samarth Verma.