Sweet pumpkin fields in various villages of Abhaynagar upazila in Jashore have come under pest attack, leaving farmers worried. They complain that spraying pesticide is not giving good results. Upazila agriculture officer Lovely Khatun has urged farmers whose crops are hit by whitefly or fruit borer to contact the agriculture office for advice.

According to the Abhaynagar upazila agriculture office, sweet pumpkin has been grown this season on 25 hectares in the upazila's eight unions and one municipality, with seed sown in January this year. Whitefly and fruit borer are the most harmful pests of sweet pumpkin. In affected plants the leaves start turning yellow, become small, and young leaves turn thin, curled and rough. Small holes appear in the pumpkins, which eventually rot and are lost. Farmers must stay alert to the condition of their fields.

Subrata Roy of Guakhola village in the Noapara municipal area said: "I sowed the seed in the ground. The fruit on plants growing on trellises has been very good, but pumpkins weighing 2–3 kg lying on the ground are rotting and drying up. Pesticide is not working. I have since started putting straw under them."

Kamrul Islam of Kota village in Chalishia union said: "I grew sweet pumpkin on about one bigha and got a good crop. Recently a problem has appeared in the field. The pumpkins are rotting, so I cannot sell them."

Many farmers in Chenguttia village, including Arjun, Shafiqul and Imran Biswas, made the same complaint about their pumpkin fields and have sought help from the authorities concerned.

Upazila agriculture officer Lovely Khatun said: "If pests attack a sweet pumpkin field, farmers must contact the agriculture office quickly, or call the sub-assistant agriculture officer in the field to see the affected field and pumpkins. So far no affected farmer has contacted us. If they do, we will certainly give advice and support."

She said: "Straw can be placed under fruit lying on the ground, or three sex pheromone traps can be set up per 10 decimals. Bioclean, a biopesticide, can also be sprayed. We are giving the same advice to bottle gourd growers."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.