As allegedly fake pesticides prove ineffective in controlling pests, farmers resort to indiscriminate spraying
After a series of farmer suicides in Odisha’s Bargarh district over pest attack, the state government finally acknowledged that there are nearly 200,000 hectares of area, on which paddy is grown, has been damaged across nine districts.
According to farmers, spurious pesticides were in use which proved ineffective to control Brown Plant Hopper, which first wilted lush green crops and then turned them into rust. To prevent further spread of the pest, farmers burnt their crops, but it was not effective.
The state government is yet to take call on whether to send samples of pesticides to lab for testing. No one in the government is ready to talk about spurious pesticides.
"Hybrid paddy, high density plantation, high-urea and ammonium content in fertilisers, more pesticide usage and favourable environment aggravated brown plant hopper incidence," says GV Ramanjaneyulu of Center for Sustainable Agriculture, a Hyderabad based non-profit.
The incident of Odisha came close on heels of similar incidents of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region. Nearly 30 farmers died of inhalation of spurious pesticides while spraying on cotton.
As the pesticide proved ineffective in controlling pests in cotton plants, the farmers resorted to indiscriminate spraying of the pesticide.
There are reports of increasing pest attack on paddy crops in Lakhimpur district of Assam and cotton crops in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh.
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