Aman rice in the fields of Tala upazila, Satkhira, had been heading for a good harvest. Now packs of rats are cutting the panicles off the plants, and farmers who have tried one method after another say they cannot stop them.
The damage is worst in Patkelghata, Magura, Khalilnagar, Tentulia, Nagarghata and Harinkhola. A responsible source at the upazila agriculture office says about 5,000 hectares have already been affected. Farmers who paid more this season for fertiliser, seed, pesticide and labour now fear heavy losses.
Affected farmers complain that despite contacting the upazila agriculture office they see few officers in the fields and get little practical advice, so they are fighting the rats on their own. Rajkumar Sarkar of Rajbanshipara in Saruliya union said the losses are heavy and the help he hoped for from the department has not come.
Shahinur Rahman Morol of Chomorkhali and Gazi Abdus Sattar of Bagmara, both in Khalishkhali union, said nothing they have tried has brought the problem under control, and field after field is being hit.
Tala upazila agriculture officer Hajira Begum said farmers are being advised. Rat control works better, she said, when farmers in one area act together rather than one by one: keep fields and their surroundings clean, find and treat burrows, watch the crop regularly and use traps.
On poison baits she urged caution: only approved rodenticides should be used, as the agriculture department advises, at the set dose and with safety rules followed so that people, livestock and useful animals are not harmed.
The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Satkhira correspondent.
Photo: Parvezahmed / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Krishi Shomoy
Comments
(0)