DHARMAPURI: Sugarcane fields across Dharmapuri district have slowly started to turn a yellowish brown hue over the past few weeks. While one might assume this to be caused by lack of nutrients or due to arid, dry climatic conditions prevailing in Dharmapuri, but this is not the case.
The aforementioned sign is one of the symptoms of the damage done by white grubs, the larvae of scarab beetles.
Farmers have blamed the spread of the insect on the mills and the agriculture department's failure to identify the infestation, which is spread across the district.
White grubs afflict the root of sugarcane.
Speaking to TNIE, S Chinnasamy, a sugarcane farmer, said, "The two mills in the district, the Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill (DCS) and the Subramaniya Siva Cooperative Sugarmill (SSCS), have affixed a total target of 12,000 acres for cane cultivation across the district. White grubs have been feeding off the roots of the sugarcane, leading to the wilting of our sugarcane. Farmers stand to lose their sugarcanes. The situation is dire, especially considering the investments we have put into the cultivation. Each farmer has invested somewhere between Rs 20,000 per acre for cultivation, and if the infestation is not curbed, we stand to face massive losses".
G Murali, a farmer from Morappur, said, "The white grub infestation should have been identified much earlier. Even the fields cultivated by the SSCS are affected. The lack of timely awareness is the cause of the infestation. While it is true that we have faced these insects in the past, most farmers are struggling to control the spread of insects. So it is only a matter of time till we lose our crops".
"One of the key chemicals, Chlorpyrifos, is expensive and farmers are not able to buy it on a whim. We are at our wits' end. The mill has assured to provide these insecticides at cheaper prices but we feel the damage has been done".
Mill authorities of the Dharmapuri Cooperative Sugarmill said, "We have issued the necessary control measures, but usually insects like the white grub remain active in the summer. But we had good rains, and it is only in the past few weeks, we have been facing a dry and arid situation, causing the insects to multiply".
P Priya, Managing Director of the SSCS, said, "We have minor pockets of infestation, not enough to warrant an assessment or crop loss. We can control the spread of white grub with recommended insecticides or just by flooding the fields, breaking the anaerobic cycle.
Moreover, we had instructed farmers affected by white grub the previous year to do crop rotations to cull the insects. Fields that had been done as recommended are not impacted. Our forecast shows rain in the upcoming days, and this itself would curb the insect spread, so the situation is not alarming".