Pest attack, stem rot disease in Rangpur worry aman farmers
Close view of aman plants attacked by stem rot disease at a field in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur district. Besides, pest attack in most areas of the upazila has added to the worry of the farmers.Photo: STAR
Massive pest attack and stem rot disease have affected ropa aman fields in Kaunia upzila under Rangpur district, much to the worry of farmers. During visits to Rajib, Tepamadhupura, Kursa, Machhari, Madamadan, Sarai, Gadai, Haragachh, Najiradaha areas of Kaunia upazila, this correspondent found that 20 to 25 percent of the aman plants have been seriously affected by the situation. According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), aman is being cultivated on 10,845 hectares of land in the upazila this season. Attack by stem borer, locally known as mazra poka, and stem rot disease, which dry the plants and turn them yellow, have affected especially BINA-7 and Swarna varieties of aman paddy, farmers said, adding that they will incur huge losses if the situation continues. Several affected farmers said that they did not get any benefit even after spraying pesticide more than once in the same field. "I have got lease of a five-bigha land to cultivate aman in the current season. Aman plants on two-bigha of land have already been damaged although I sprayed pesticide thrice,” Shahjahan, 45, a farmer of Machhari, said. Like Shahjahan, many of the farmers of the affected areas have expressed their doubt about the quality of the pesticides. DAE officials, however, denied massive attack of the pest and stem rot disease in aman plants at different places in Kaunia upazila. "The aman plants might be affected due to climate change in the region as the days are extremely hot while there are dew drops at night. Besides, potash has become too costly for most of the farmers. The plant disease might also happen due to the shortage of the fertiliser in the land,” said AKM Ruhul Ameen, Kaunia upazila agriculture officer. He suggested spraying Score, Kantop, Nuin, Tila and Pholikur pesticides to overcome the situation. Asked about the quality of the pesticides in the market, he said, "There are a number of pesticides in the market. It is not possible to determine their quality without laboratory test."
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