DROUGHT conditions triggered a pest
attack in 12 paddy growing districts of
Orissa. The swarming caterpillars
(Spodoptera mauritia) ruined crops on
89,000 hectares (ha) of the four million
ha under paddy cultivation in the state.
Sambalpur district was the worst
affected; paddy crops on nearly 33,000
ha were destroyed by the pest, called
leda poka in Orissa. In Malkangiri
district, farms were also attacked by
stem borer pests and bacterial leaf blight
disease.
"This year June was dry. There were
a few days of heavy rain in July and a
prolonged drought after that. The
drought suits the pests. The problem is
pronounced in areas that do not get
irrigation water," said Saroj Mohanty,
an activist working with farmers in
western Orissa.
Ashok Pradhan, a farmer in
Sambalpur district who harvested 18.75
quintals of rice last year, said if there are
no rains his yields would be nowhere
near what he harvested last year. Only a
part of the 7.3 ha he owns is irrigated.
To help the farmers tide over the
crisis, the government announced pesticide
subsidies and spent Rs 1.44 crore
on it. But farmers said the help is insufficient.
"In some places only 10 litres of
pesticide was given for the whole village
and one sprayer allocated to one panchayat
comprising 10-15 villages. The
shortage will create more problems,"
said Jagannath Chatterjee of the nonprofit
Living Farms. Balaram Bhoi, a 42-
year-old farmer in Sambalpur district,
consumed the pesticide he was to spray
in his farms. A debt of Rs 35,000 drove
him to suicide. Mohanty said there are
reports of farmers migrating from
neighbouring Jharsuguda district to
Raipur in Chhattisgarh as their crops
have been destroyed. "There is no work
under the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme this time of the year,
so more people are likely to migrate to
cities," he said.
Officials said there were no reports
of farmers' distress. They said the pest
problem has been controlled in 70,000
ha and that remaining farmland where
paddy crop was lost will be used to grow
pulses and oilseeds. The extent of damage
to paddy will be assessed after harvesting,
they added.
"What we know is that farmers have
availed of the subsidies and the problem
is almost over," said Babaji Giri, additional
director of state agriculture
department
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