Shortage of quality pesticides hits crops in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: Paddy crops are hit by pest in large parts of the western and southern Odisha and a few coastal districts with farmers complaining non-availability of quality pesticides in local markets.

As per official report, over two lakh hectares (ha) of paddy crops are affected by pest while area treated so far is less than 50,000 ha. Sohela, Padampur, and Attabira blocks of Bargarh district, considered to be the rice bowl of the State, are the worst affected.

As paddy crops are in the ripening stage, farmers fear heavy crop loss if the plants are not treated in time. Brown plant hopper (BHP), commonly known as chakada, and bacterial leaf blight (BLB) are the common plant disease noticed in Bargarh and Koraput districts while paddy crops in coastal districts are affected by sheath blight and BLB.

“We sprayed pesticide supplied by the government for several times but it didn’t work. We don’t know how to stop sheath blight (pucha roga in local parlance) that is not responding to pesticide,” said Basanta Barik of Jaleswar.

Farmers hit by pest attack are not getting due response from district officials of the Agriculture department.

“With limited knowledge on pest treatment, the village agricultural workers are unable to guide the farmers. May be we are applying wrong pesticides on the affected crops to which the pests are responding,” Barik said.

Echoing similar concern, Arun Panigrahi, a farmer of Jeypore in Koraput district, said dearth of pesticides is another area of concern.

Though the government is claiming that adequate pesticides are supplied to farmers at 50 per cent subsidy, private dealers selling pesticides at subsidised rate are subsidising the volume, he said.

Cops create green corridor for critical patient

Bhubaneswar Police on Saturday provided a green corridor from a private hospital in Sainik School Road to Biju Patnaik International Airport for a patient who was in urgent need of surgery.

“At 4 pm, the corridor was ensured by Additional DCP Traffic and a team from the hospital for shifting of the critical patient from Bhubaneswar to Chennai in an air ambulance for organ transplantation,” said Traffic DCP Soumya Mishra.