KARIMNAGAR: The yellow mosaic virus is distressing soybean farmers in Karimnagar district as the disease is damaging plant growth and crop yield. Farmers who have invested Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per acre to raise soybean crop, are seeking help of authorities to save their crops from the virus. After turmeric and sugarcane, soybean crop is cultivated extensively in Mallapur and Ibrahimpatnam mandals.
A farmer named Dabba Shekar from Mutyampet village said the soybean crop he has raised on an acre of land is turning yellow and withering. The small-scale farmer has spent about Rs 25,000 on buying seeds, pesticides and for weeding operations. Now, Shekar rues his decision to cultivate soybean as there is no hope of recovering his investment.
Another farmer, Srinivas, has alleged that no official from the Agriculture department has visited the fields to inspect the damage being caused by the virus and suggest corrective measures. “They gave me suggestions sitting in their offices rather than make a field visit. Had they visited the fields to study the situation first-hand they would have been in a better position to offer us solutions,” he opined.
Officials have confirmed that soybean crop cultivated in 300 acres out of 602 acres has been affected by yellow mosaic virus. When TNIE contacted, Agriculture authorities claimed that they had told farmers to remove the plants affected by the virus at the very outset and set them on fire to prevent the disease from spreading to healthy plants.
District agriculture officer Paka Suresh Kumar said soybean crop cultivation is taken up mostly in Mallapur, Ibrahimpatnam, Metpalli, Korutla and Medipalli mandals in the district. “Due to a change in weather about 50 per cent of the crop has been affected by the virus. Agriculture extension officers are visiting fields and educating the farmers about the pest management methods to deal with the virus,” Suresh added.A combination of Acetamiprid and Acephate should be sprayed per acre to destroy the virus, he said.