Lalit Naik is busy harvesting his rabi paddy. “Though there is no threat for ripen paddy, locusts might ruin kharif seedlings which will be grown in the district from June 10,” he fears. The 60-year-old farmer from Bargarh’s Babebira village has never seen locust invasion in his life time.
Nor has Daitari Sahu, a 78-year-old farmer from Sialati village in Nuapada’s Komna block. He apprehends that green vegetation would be gone if the swarm reached the district.Highly migratory and voracious feeders, the short-horned grasshoppers have reached Chhattisgarh and their footsteps can, literally, be heard in Nuapada and Bargarh. It’s the fear of unknown for farmers in bordering districts of Odisha.
Concerned, the Agriculture Department is already on its toes. “We have created WhatsApp group for all the 253 gram panchayats in the district to disseminate information on how to deal with locust attack,” says Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO), Bargarh, Dinabandhu Gandhi.
Each group has farmers besides field level officials as members. The villagers are being advised to form groups and make noise by beating utensils or tin boxes to drive away the insects. Farmers are also being asked to use measures such as spraying neem seed kernel extract or neem-based insecticide on standing crops to protect crops from the locust attack.
In Nuapada, which has reported no instance of locust invasion in the past, the department is creating awareness among farmers through WhatsApp groups across all 131 gram panchayats besides interacting with villagers. Currently, there is standing vegetable crop in the fields and farmers are advised to use neem based insecticides to protect their crop, CDAO Javed Mohammad said.
The Agriculture department has prepared booklets in Odia featuring means to combat the menace in Balangir. Social media, SMSes, m-Kisan, Ama Krushi Odisha, community radio stations and video conferencing are also being used.
Balangir had faced locust attack 40 years back, recalls president of Zilla Krushak Mahasangha Sudhir Parichha. This year, onion and rabi crops were damaged due to untimely rain. If locusts come in, farmers would be staring at huge losses and Government would have to compensate, he says.
Chief District Agriculture Officer Balakrishna Gouda informs that a control room has been set up in the district to assist farmers and SOP has been formulated.
In Dhenkanal, the mango farmers are a worried lot. The fruit is grown on over 50,000 hectare land across the district. With mangoes yet to be plucked, the farmers are anticipating the worst. Vegetable growers of Sankarpur, Hindol, Tarava, Gondia, Kankadahada and Kamakshyanagar are also apprehensive. Though Government has issued directives to the district administration on locust attacks, farmers are wary in absence of clear information.
Deputy Director, Agriculture, Rajkishore Nayak said farmers are being asked to use neem-based pesticide on their crops to minimise the loss.
On Monday, a meeting was held in Bhawanipatna to review preparedness for protecting cotton crop due to locust attack. CDAO Narendra Kumar Behera said awareness campaigns will be organised to sensitise farmers for which village-level farmer committees are being formed.
