Mrunal Manmay Dash

Kendrapara: Farmers in Dihapada Panchayat under Kendrapara’s Pattamundai block are forced to spend sleepless nights as pest poses a massive threat to their paddy crop.

As per reports, a pest named as “Patra Moda” is eating away the developing panicle of the rice plant concealed in the leaf stem.

The worried farmers are reportedly in a state of panic as after back to back drought and flood, this is the time, they have pinned their hopes on the crop to make their finances rolling.

However, the pest attack has dashed all their hopes. As per their allegations, the paddy leaves are getting curled and turning white because of the pest. And pesticides seem to be not helping the farmers enough.

Kailash Mohanty, a farmer said, “We are helpless in front of this pest. They are eating away my crop that I have sown in 7-8 acres of land.”

Another farmer, Sushant Das, said, “We have been badly affected by COVID-19. But after almost a year, when we thought that we will pull ourselves out of the penury situation, the pest thing happened.”

Not only in Pattamundai, but the pest menace has reportedly spread to the adjacent Rajnagar block.

Corroborating the allegations, the Assistant Farm Officer of Pattamundai, Bhadra Narayan Dash said, “After getting the complaint, I visited the farmlands and found out that the crops have indeed been infected by a pest ‘Patra Moda’. I have recommended appropriate pesticide to the farmers and assured them to supply the same at a subsidised rate as per the government regulations.”

(Edited By Pradeep Singh)

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