Once again swarms of locust have started troubling Fazilka famers, with reports of small cotton plants in border villages of Roop Nagar and Bareka being attacked by the pest doing the rounds.
After devouring the cotton crop, the swarms have settled on tall trees near the international border.
Dharmvir Bhobia, sarpanch, Roopnagar village, said he had sown cotton in 8 acres about 20 to 25 days ago, but the crop was eaten by the locust which had come from Pakistan.
In Bareka village, the standing small cotton plants in 12 acres were also ruined. The crop was sown about one month ago, said farmer Arvind Kumar.
The farmers have demanded compensation.
Zila Parishad member Sidharth Rinwa said the farmers had demanded requisite insecticides to kill the pest at the time of attack, but their crops couldn’t be saved as their demand was not met with.
Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Manjit Singh said it was a low-density attack by immature pink locust adults on small cotton plants in the village. No major damage had been reported. The Central government team had been visiting the villages to review the situation.
The CAO said as per the directions of the department, the pesticide couldn’t be directly provided to the farmers, however in case of an attack, pesticides were provided to them immediately. — OC
This news has not been edited by Apni Kheti staff but has been published by various news feeds
Source: The Tribune
