Perching, a simple way of controlling pests in Aman rice, is catching on in Dinajpur. About 65 percent of farmers in Sadar upazila are using it successfully, Md Abu Bakkar Siddique, a field officer at the upazila agriculture office, told BSS.
Farmers push tree branches, bamboo sticks or stakes into their paddy fields to give birds somewhere to sit; from there the birds pick off harmful insects. Officials describe it as cost-free, environmentally friendly and pesticide-free, cutting production costs and helping produce safer crops.
In Nashipur, Kornai, Uttar Sadipur and Gobindapur, stakes and branches in the Aman fields were occupied by magpie robins, black drongos, mynas and other birds. Farmer Md Saiful Islam, 42, of Ulipur village said the method had worked well against grasshoppers, case worms, leaf folders and stem borers; Md Amin Uddin, 72, of Darail village said the same.
Md Sadrul Alam, an officer researching pest control at the regional agriculture office, said these pests appear after fertiliser is applied; farmers also use light traps, but perching has become the most popular approach.
Sadar upazila agriculture officer Abdullah Al Masud Tushar said perching protects the environment from the harmful effects of pesticides. Md Afzal Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Dinajpur, said officers have been encouraging farmers to adopt it for two years.
The district's Aman target this season was 272,860 hectares: 258,630 hectares of high-yielding varieties, 1,990 of local varieties and 12,240 of hybrids. Thanks to favourable weather and timely rain, farmers planted 1,350 hectares more than targeted and officials expect a good harvest. Sadar upazila's 10 unions had a target of 22,550 hectares.
Photo: a black drongo on its perch (file), Shyamal / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Source: BSS
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