CUDDALORE: A new kind of infestation caused by fall armyworm, an invasive pest, has begun its cycle of destruction in maize farms in and around Cuddalore and Villupuram districts of in northern Tamil Nadu. The pest has since last year damaging crops in the neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and this year spread into farmlands in Tamil Nadu.
In a desperate attempt to get back at least a meagre return on their investment, the maize farmers have started to sell their entire production to a fertilizer company in Andhra Pradesh even without initiating any harvest.
According to Tamil Nadu Agriculture Department's data, there are over 29,520 farmers cultivating maize in over 22,450 hectares in Cuddalore district alone. Over 90 per cent of these have faced loss this year, due to the damage caused by the fall armyworm, that goes by the biological name Spodoptera frugiperda.
In September, scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University alerted farmers to be on the look-out for this invasive worm, which has reportedly affected maize fields in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also. According to media reports, the worm was first spotted in Karnataka in May 2018 and subsequently spread to other states. Sugarcane and maize fields also faced the brunt of this infestation in Tiruchy in central Tamil Nadu around August.
“I cultivated 10 acres of maize with an investment of Rs 20,000 per acre in August. But in December, while I was getting ready to harvest, I spotted almost all the corns affected by the worm. With a hope to get back at least some money back, I decided to sell the entire produce to the fertilizer company that has grazed out 70 tonnes of fodder from my farm,” said M Selvam, a maize farmer in Vaidyanathapuram village of Tittakudi taluk. The company is buying the fodder at a rate of Rs 1,400 per tonne.
For Selvam, its not just the prospect of losing a profit. But he is now unable to pay back debt he had taken. “I have taken the farmland on rent at Rs 12,000 for one acre. Now I have a debt of over Rs one lakh and also lost money from my hand for labour and other costs. I did not earn any profit last year, and the condition this year is much worse,” he says.
Facing a similar hardship, R Sakthivel, another farmer said, ”Last year I harvested about 30 gunny bags of maize. But this year, I could barely manage ten bags. Also, as the cob has been dried, many farmers like me could not even sell their produce to the fertilizer company, as it insists on fresh cob.”
The fertilizer company so far has grazed out over 150 tonnes from 15 acres in Cuddalore and over 1,000 tonnes from 70 acres at Chinnasalem in the neighbouring Villupuram district. The farmers say they sowed maize in August and only now they are noticing the worm.
“It is impossible to trace worms in the early stage of the crop. Even then pesticides were sprayed frequently to avoid any kind of possible pest attacks. However, as these worms' attack the cob right away it is almost difficult to trace them. It is very unusual that farmers in such large scale are affected like this,” said K Neelamegam, another farmer from Tholudur.
Speaking to Express, S Douressamy, Professor at Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruvannamalai, suggested that farmers can make use of new techniques like solar light trap and sex hormone trap or adhere to conventional methods like spraying of pesticides but at the early crop stage. “No particular reason for this large-scale invasive has been found out yet, but farmers should be careful in identifying any discolouration or spots in the plant. Techniques like solar light trap can also be used to keep pests away. Recently, the Pest Control of India has innovated fall armyworm sex pheromone trap that will arrest the spread of the pest,” he said.