The orange gardens of Juri upazila in Moulvibazar are famous for their green oranges. The gardens grow Khasi and Nagpuri varieties, and now they have come under attack from pests. Under assault from a new enemy, Juri's oranges are in danger of losing their heritage. Old orange trees are dying one after another, and new seedlings are dying before they grow. Farmers and agriculture officials are failing to stop the attack on all fronts.

According to the Juri upazila agriculture office, there are about 95 orange gardens on 97.5 hectares in different parts of the upazila, 62 hectares of them in Goalbari union. Most of the oranges are Khasi and Nagpuri varieties, which are very tasty. This year's orange production target is 695 tonnes.

Morshed Mia, an orange grower of Lalchhara village in Goalbari union, said his garden had about 1,500 orange trees. In the past three years 400 have died, and of the remaining 600 about 200 are on the way to dying. First a kind of white insect sucks water from the orange roots underground, and then termites eat the roots.

He said that in the first year the leaves turn light yellow, in the second year they turn fully yellow and start to drop, and in the third year the tree dies. At the start of the attack the oranges are normal in size, but in the second year they become smaller and the following year very small.

Joynul Mia, another orange grower in Lalchhara, said he had 800 orange trees in his garden and 100 have died over a few years. The trees are killed by a butterfly-like insect. Medicine is being applied to save them, but it is not working: the attack stops only as long as the medicine stays effective, and then it is back as before.

Juri upazila agriculture officer Md Mahmudul Alam Khan said: "Acting on information from growers, we visited and identified quite a few problems. Because the gardens are in hilly areas, pest attacks are somewhat higher. Termites, mealybugs, beetles after foaming, and insects such as the Gandhi butterfly (fruit sucker) are always there. We have supplied quite a few pesticides; some worked and some did not. There are some unfamiliar moths here that cannot be identified. We are taking steps."

Juri upazila nirbahi officer Bablu Sutradhar said: "We recently visited the orange gardens along with the upazila agriculture officer. We will analyse the problems and give them to higher authorities as recommendations, so that orange farming prospers further and growers benefit."

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