Pests wreak havoc on 4,000-acre paddy field in Kerala

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Kochi: Distressed paddy farmers of Kerala are now threatened with a night-raider pests, which have re-surfaced in the state after 40 years.

“Army Worms ‘ or ‘swarming caterpillar’ (Spodoptera species) has wrecked havoc in more than 4,000 acre under paddy in Thrissur district in just five days.

While the Kerala government claims that spraying of insecticides like ekalex and carbaril has helped control the spread in the Kole farmlands of Thrissur , farmers talking to FE expressed fears that nearby Kole lands too are reporting the pest attack.

“The sporadic attack and the magnitude of destruction are devastating. Basically, this pest attacks in the night and spreads quickly,” Sheela MK, director extension at the Thrissur based Kerala Agricultural University told FE.

The destruction and spread of the pest is similar to an attacking army.

We cannot predict the attack and reach of the pest, but it can be controlled, she added. According to reports, this pest and can wreak havoc to crops if left to multiply.

Its name is derived from its feeding habits. Army worms will eat everything in an area and once the food supply is exhausted, the entire “army” will move to the next available food source.

With 13,632 hectare, the Kole wetlands is spread over Thrissur and Malappuram districts and constitutes a major part of the state’s overall paddy growing area.

The name, ‘Kole’, refers to the peculiar cultivation method from December to May. ‘Kole’, (a Malayalam word), indicates a bumper yield when floods do not damage the crop.

The pest attack was first noticed on Saturday in Pullazhy, where nearly 1,000 acres were destroyed in a single night.

“We found the one month old paddy stems reduced to just stubs in one night. It is heartbreaking,” Gopinath Kolangat, president of Pullazhy Kolepadavu Sahakaranu Sanghom (a farmer’s cooperative which organizes and controls farming in the Kole lands) told FE.

“The number of pest in a single acre can be above 5 lakh. There are reports of pest attack from nearby lands like Alappad and Anthikad. If it spreads to all the Kole lands, the damage can be huge,” Murali Perinelly, MLA and leader of Kerala Karshaka Sanghom, the farmer’s wing of CPI (M) told FE.