PABNA, Oct 17: A sudden attack of pests and leaf blight disease on Aman paddy fields has sent a chill down the farmers' spine in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna.
The growers are in apprehension of a massive crop failure this season because of the two menaces.
They are worried as leaves of their paddy plants have started rotting on a large scale due to attack of the disease and pests called 'majra'.
According to the Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Office, Aman paddy was cultivated on around 3,660 hectares of land in the upazila in the current season.
Besides, heavy rains caused flooding in paddy fields and infestation of various types of insects.
Farmers are being given necessary advices by the agriculture office to tackle the present situation.
Officials said different varieties of Aman paddy including BRII 87, BRII-49, BRII 51-52 BRII-95, BRII-103 and BINA-17, BINA-7, BINA-23 varieties have been cultivated in Ishwardi upazila. Farmers said from the beginning, they were very much optimistic about a good yield of Amon paddy due to favorable weather condition.
But on the contrary, three to four spells of heavy rainfall in recent time have caused widespread flooding in paddy fields and fueled up attack of various types of insects.
During a spot visit on Wednesday morning, this correspondent saw the present condition of the paddy fields. Leaf blight disease and majra insect attack caused an extensive damage to paddy plants.
Now the age of the paddy plants is about 40-45 days. Initially, small watermarks have appeared on the edges and front of the leaves of the paddy plants.
These spots grow slowly towards the edges of the leaves or progress inwards, discolouring the affected areas and turning them grayish brown.
Some of the paddy leaves are also getting brown in colour. Spraying pesticides is not bringing any effective results. Consequently, farmers are fearing a disaster in the rice production.
Abul Hossain of Muladuli area of the upazila told The Financial Express, "Leaves of the paddy are slowly burning from the bottom which we call burn disease. There is a burn disease throughout the whole fields. This will cause huge losses to the farmers."
Usually 20 maunds of paddy are produced per bigha of land. Due to the prevalent disease, yield of even five to six maunds of paddy per bigha cannot be expected, farmers said.
Agriculture officials are recommending the use of pesticides to kill insects. Even using high-priced pesticides is not bringing any benefit.
"We are disoriented due to blight and rot diseases in the paddy fields due to heavy rains," said Abdul Haque, a farmer from the same area.
The cost of production is increasing. Side-by-side yield is also likely to decline. This will severely affect farmers.
Muladuli Union Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Aliuzzaman Zia Zanan told The Financial Express that the paddy fields have been flooded due to heavy rains. As a result, various types of insects have attacked the fields. Various advices have been given to the farmers to control the pest menace. If farmers use pesticides properly as per the advice of the agriculture office, there will happen no big damage to paddy.
Ishwaradi Upazila Agriculture Officer Mita Sarkar told The Financial Express that symptoms of leaf blight disease are being seen in the fields of Aman paddy this season.
Farmers are advised to remove excessive water from the field soil immediately. Additional urea fertiliser cannot be applied at one time. Potash fertiliser and herbicide should also be administered at the rate of 5 kg per bigha.
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