Sugarcane growers in Haryana are a worried lot as the crop is under a pest attack, largely known as top-borer and pokkah boeng.
Farmers of the major cane-growing districts of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Kaithal said the crops are badly affected and they were running from pillar to post to protect their crops.
As per farmers and experts from the agriculture department, two major diseases, top-borer and pokka boeing, have been reported in sugarcane. But the largely grown Co 0238, which is around 40% of the total sugarcane acreage in the state, is badly affected. Farmers said there is no major impact on the Co 118 and Co 15023 varieties.
They said this is the second consecutive year that the cane crop is under pest attack.
As per the experts, both diseases are harmful to the crop and pokkah boeing is responsible for severe yield losses of up to 40 percent in susceptible varieties of sugarcane.
They said last year it had affected the yield to around 100-200 quintals per acre and it could have a major impact on the crop this year also.
“We have spent about ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 per acre on the sprays of fungicides and pesticides but to no avail,” said a farmer, Praveen Kumar of Karnal’s Nilokheri.
Another farmer, Rajiv Kumar from Shahbad of Kurukshetra, said his 14 acres of sugarcane are under pest attack and the pesticides are not yielding any positive results.
Experts said top-borer is harmful for the crop as it completes five generations or broods in a year. It remains active from February to October and damages the growth of the cane crop. The pest affects the growth of the crop by damaging the leaves.
The first two broods of the pest attack the young plants and the third and fourth generations cause maximum damage from July to September.
The affected plants are killed from the top and there is a possibility of loss to the crop as the pest migrates to another shoot after killing the first one.
Deputy director agriculture, Kaithal, Karam Chand said last year there was an outbreak of top-borer pest in sugarcane due to which the crop was badly affected. But this year a team of sugarcane experts inspected the fields and they decided that this time the pest control will be done by adopting integrated pest management.
He said the team inspired the farmers to get 1,000 pheromone traps installed in fields to control the peak borer.
Similarly, Pradeep Meel, DDA, Kurukshetra, said the agriculture department has recommended carbofuran 13 kg per acre to control top-borer disease and Bavastine for pokkah boeng.
Source - https://www.hindustantimes.com
