Farmers who have raised “Andhra Ponni” (BPT 5204 variety) are at a loss as the crop has been damaged because of the blast disease.

A number of farmers of Adhavathur near Tiruchi who have raised this crop are the worst-hit, as the disease has caused extensive damage.

Farmers who have raised the crop said that while they were expecting at least 50 bags an acre, the yield was just 10 bags. The blast had eaten away the crop and they wanted the State government to sanction adequate relief.

Gesture

The gravity of the loss is so serious that even farmer workers who had come to harvest the field, have volunteered to reduce their wages, particularly after ascertaining the poor yield.

“I can easily walk along carrying this bundle as it is not of much weight because there is not much productive tillers,” says one of agricultural labourer P. Ramalingam, who was harvesting about three acres of field at Somarasampettai village near Kumara Vayalur on Tuesday.

S. Balamurugan, another labourer, said that 25 workers from different parts of the district harvested the field for three days. Although they had demanded about seven bags of paddy towards wages, they had reduced it to six-and-a-half bags, considering the gravity of the poor yield.

Officials said that the Andhra Ponni, though a good crop, was susceptible to blast disease.

Three types of blast diseases classified in to ‘leaf blast’, ‘sheath blast’, and ‘neck blast’ were reported in the paddy. Although the ‘leaf blast’ could be controlled to some extent, the problem got aggravated by the other types, resulting in total damage of the productive tillers.

The disease attacked the crop during the excess moisture or fall in temperature below 24 degree Centigrade.

Source - http://www.thehindu.com