Scores of farmers from Tiganibidri and surrounding villages in Vijayapura district are a distressed lot as stem borer has become aggressive resulting in heavy damage to the grape crop.
Such is the impact of the pest that Mumtajpasha Dalawai of Tiganibidri, who has been cultivating grapes for 12 years, has lost 250 grape vines of the total 2,500 in his three-acre land in the last two years.
The pest has caused extensive damage to grape vines in two years. “In Tiganibidri village alone, about 100 grape farmers have been affected by the pest,” Mumtajpasha told The Hindu while showing a couple of the affected vines that he was forced to uproot.
In a survey during 2016, for the first time, entomologists observed extensive damages to grape vines because of the pest attack. The survey revealed that almost every vineyard had been affected with damages ranging between 3% and 90%.
Dry spell is said to be the ideal climate for these pests to thrive and successive drought in the district for the last two-and-a-half years has only aggravated the problem for grape farmers. “When the vines receive limited water, the stem starts getting dry and the pest starts destroying the stem. The only solution to prevent pest attack is adequate watering,” said N.D. Sunitha, associate professor of Entomology at University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
According to Ms. Sunitha, many farmers are unaware of the damage the pest could cause to their crop. “Powder like substance on the stem and leaves changing colour from green to brown are indications of the pest attack. The best solution is good water management. Inexpensive pesticides available in the market can also be helpful in controlling the pest attack,” she said.
Officials unaware
Surprisingly, the Department of Horticulture does not have much information on the pest attack.
Admitting that they were not aware of it as farmers had not complained, Deputy Director of Horticulture Santosh Inamdar said that so far no study had been conducted to assess the impact of the pest attack on economy. “We will speak to farm experts and take steps to sensitise the farmers,” he said.
Karnataka is the second largest grape growing State in the country after Maharashtra, with cultivation taken up on around 20,000 hectares. Vijayapura district tops the State in grape cultivation with 11,000 hectares. “But, in the absence of any detailed survey, it is difficult to assess the quantum of loss in terms of area and revenue,” Ms. Sunitha said.