Pest attack on wheat crop sows new worries for farmers in Pb

Farmers in parts of the state are complaining of pest attack on the recently-sown wheat crop. While farmer groups claim the attack by pink stem borer is prevalent on fields where paddy stubble was not burnt but tackled in situ, agriculture experts are blaming it on weather conditions being favourable for the spread of the pest.

Wheat crop has been damaged by pest attacks in villages of Sangrur and field visits by the agriculture department have confirmed the presence of pink stem borer. In Ghabdan village, 50% pest attack was reported on 10 acres of farmer Tejinder Pal Singh, 10% attack on 2 acres of farmer Jagvir Singh. In Bhindra village, farmer Harjit Singh complained of 5% pest on his 5 acres of land.

While some farmers said they were contemplating ploughing back their fields, agriculture experts said that the problem could lead to delayed wheat harvest even if the farmers wait for the wheat plants to recover from the pest attack.Gagandeep Singh, a farmer from Bhattiwal Kalan village in Sangrur, said the pest attack was visible on 3 of the 11 acres of land on which he conducted in-situ treatment of paddy stubble using a super seeder.

Sangrur chief agriculture officer (CAO) Harbans Singh told TOI, “This time, paddy harvesting was delayed, and the day temperature was a bit higher at the start of paddy sowing earlier this month. So far, 90 % of wheat sowing has been completed in the district.”

He added that weather conditions were favourable for the pest which has been transferred from paddy to newly-sown wheat crop. “It is a temporary problem and farmers don’t need to panic. The pest would become inactive once the temperature drops again. Farmers are being advised to irrigate their fields after spraying chemicals as it would ensure proper germination of wheat,” he said.The agriculture officer, however, rejected claims of farmers’ groups that the pest attack was limited to fields where paddy stubble was disposed of using in situ crop residue management (CRM) equipment by farmers.

“Due to delayed paddy harvesting farmers could not spray their fields to get rid of the pests at the end of season and later the weather conditions have been favourable to make them active on wheat crop,” he said. Last year too, pink stem borer attack was seen in parts of Bathinda district in Dec and experts had pointed out that larva or eggs from previous paddy season had become active due to weather conditions.

This article has been republished from The Times of India