Indian farmers urge govts to take steps to control spread of pest

The maize farmers in Punjab have urged both the federal and provincial agriculture ministries to take steps on emergency basis to monitor and control the spread of a pest, ‘Fall Armyworm’, which has already hit hard several Asian countries, including India and China.

“There is a need to monitor this new pest, evaluate its possible impact and educate growers on how to control it which has infested the maize crop on a big scale throughout the province. Thus, the government should immediately recognize and declare it as a ‘critical pest’,” said the farmers and agricultural experts.

Aamer Hayat Bhandara, a progressive farmer and climate change activist, while talking on Thursday said that the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) last year had warned that farmers and authorities throughout Asia need to be vigilant against Fall Armyworm invasions, after confirmation that the fast-moving pest has spread from India to China and now to South-East Asia.

“The highly destructive moth (Spodoptera frugiperda), native to north and south America, has been steadily moving east since 2016, causing up to US $3 billion worth of damage to maize and other crops in Africa, according to reports. The pest reached India in July last year before hitting Bangladesh and Sri Lanka,” he added.

“In February 2019, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) also cautioned Pakistan and offered cooperation in tackling the prevalent threat of the pest. However, the federal government took no measures to control the situation and shared no information with the provinces and the farmers. At present, the pest is a grave threat to maize crop which is not only undermining the crop’s yield but also disturbing the silage production for dairy and livestock sectors,” he claimed.

According to him, the situation this year may get out of control if the farmers are not properly advised about the chemicals to be sprayed on these pests; the farmer have no knowledge about the pest and thus are considering it as a normal armyworm.

He said that recent changes in the rain pattern might be a reason behind its increased attack as humidity favours this insect. He claimed that this year it is almost everywhere in Punjab in spots. The pest is not limited to corn but can also attack other crops, such as fodder, he added.

“The pest has been spotted throughout Punjab in the autumn maize crop this year and the growers are trying to control it by using different types of pesticides, either on the advice of pesticide companies or by on their own, which is increasing their input cost as well as causing threats to environment,” he added.

Mehar Nadeem, a corn farmer from Kotla Sheikh Natha (Kasur District), told this scribe that they did not spot this pest on the corn crop during the spring season, but it is being observed in the field in the fall crop. He further said that they are clueless in tackling this pest; “we need training on emergency basis to manage this disease”. He said they had to use two extra sprays to control this pest and one spray cost Rs 2200 per acres.

Mian Shafiq and other farmers from Kasur while commenting on the situation said that the autumn crop is not very beneficial for the growers already and added cost of two sprays to tackle this new pest will cause them further loss. He said that small growers are hit very hard, as pesticides are expensive. He claimed that extension services of private sector companies were helping the farmers a bit, but there is no input from the government.

DG Agriculture Punjab (Extension) Dr. Anjum Ali Buttar on contact said that the department is fully cognizant of the situation. “We have taken samples from different places and sent to the department concerned for molecular analysis. We will submit a proper report after this analysis to the federal government for further headway.” He said the department has adopted a two pronged strategy including molecular analysis and at the same time eradication of the pest through pesticides. He said the department acknowledges existence of the pest but the government is moving carefully against this invasive specie.