Planthopper hits paddy crop in Ambala

AMBALA: Hundreds of acres of paddy crop have been affected by the brown planthopper disease in the district Jaswant Singh sarpanch of Nakatpur village said: Pusa1121 variety in nearly 100 acres in my village has been badly affected by the planthopper

Updated At : 05:54 AM Oct 17, 2016 IST

A farmer in his planthopper disease-hit field at Nakatpur village in Ambala. Tribune photo

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, October 16

Hundreds of acres of paddy crop have been affected by the brown planthopper disease in the district.

Jaswant Singh, sarpanch of Nakatpur village, said: “Pusa-1121 variety in nearly 100 acres in my village has been badly affected by the planthopper. A huge amount of money has been spent on pesticides and other sprays to save the crop, but to no avail. The disease will badly hit the yield as well as quality of the crop. The yield is likely to remain 2-3 quintals per acre.”

Ranbir Singh, a farmer from Amipur village, said: “The damage has already been done. Nearly 90 per cent crop has been damaged and we are finding it difficult to clear the fields now. Hundreds of acres in more than six villages have been affected by the disease.”

“We met the Deputy Commissioner and the Deputy Director, Agriculture, and apprised them about the loss. The crop is insured under the Pradhanmantri Fasal Bima Yojana and we have requested the officials to direct the insurance companies to provide compensation to us,” he added.

Dr JN Bhatia, professor, plant pathology at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, said: “The planthopper is a plant-sucking insect and it sucks the juice of the plant due to which the leaves turn yellow before turning brown and dying.” Since a major part of the non-basmati varieties had been harvested, the attack was mainly on basmati varieties, he said, adding that the temperature was favourable for the insect.

“Also, farmers have not been using the pesticides and sprays in a proper manner. The attack of brown planthopper is so contagious. If it is not controlled immediately, it shifts to nearby fields. The excessive use of urea also caused the outbreak of the disease,” he said.

SS Yadav, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said: “There are reports of paddy fields in 6-7 villages being hit by the disease. Teams are visiting the affected villages and farmers are being given suggestions to control the attack. Crop cutting experiment is on and the farmers who have got their crops insured will get the compensation for their losses.”