Poor pest surveillance blamed for crop damage in Dhenkanal

DHENKANAL:Farmers of the district have alleged that lack of proper implementation of e-pest surveillance and pest management programme has led to damage of paddy crops in different blocks.
They said more than 50 per cent crops have been damaged in 20,472 hectares (ha) in 166 of the total 212 gram panchayats (GPs) in the district. While Agriculture officials rarely visit the farm fields to take stock of the situation, they have even failed to provide proper advice to farmers to control pest attacks.

Farmers alleged that as there was no timely intervention by Agriculture officials to check pest attack at the mild-stage, the crops were damaged. Even fertiliser and pesticide were not provided to them during the time of need, they claimed..According to official reports, paddy crops have been damaged in more than 240 ha of land due to Blast pest while Brown Plant Hopper (BPH) has affected six ha.

In Dhenkanal, three types of pests - Blast, Gandhi Bug and Stem Borer - have affected paddy crops over several hectares of land, said Deputy Director of Agriculture Chhabindra Behera. He said steps have been taken to control BPH.The farm monitoring system e-pest surveillance is being implemented across the country under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Behera said they collect pest attack information from field officials and upload it to the surveillance system. After getting solutions from experts online, they instruct farmers to act on it.
This year, there was depression-induced rainfall in coastal pockets while weather in western pockets remained cloudy. It created a micro climate that was conducive for BPH infestation, he added.