Sambalpur: Just months after widespread crop damage due to pest attack in several parts of Odisha, even allegedly leading to farmer suicides, the pest menace has returned to haunt farmers in Sambalpur.
As per reports, hundreds of acres of land with standing paddy crops in Sambalpur have been affected by Brown Planthopper, popularly known as 'Chakada Poka' in local parlance, reminding farmers about the last year’s severe crop damage.
Deputy Director of Agriculture department, Khegendra Jena said 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.
“Most of my 25 acre land has been badly affected by Chakada poka and it seems that I may not be able to get any produce from this year’s cultivation,” Anand Chhuria, a farmer from Chipilima said.
After reports of pest attack, the district administration has expedited measures to curb the menace. After a directive of the district collector, a team of agriculture experts today reviewed the situation in several parts of Sambalpur.
“In many cases, we have found that farmers spray a combination of 2 to 3 different pesticides which is wrong, so we have advised them to refrain from such practices. We have advised what pesticides to use through leaflets and also urged them to use the medicines at the base of the plants only,” Agriculture scientist, Srikant Sahu said after a field inspection.
District administration has assured that all possible steps are being taken to ensure crops are protected.
"I have ordered a detail field assessment by teams comprising local Tehsildars and Agriculture department staff. Compensation will be given to farmers as per damage and preventive measures will also be taken,” Sambalpur Collector, Samarth Verma said