An outbreak of insects has been observed in Varkhe potatoes planted by the farmers of Bangad Kupinde Municipality-12 Nigalchula in the district. The farmers, who are earning their living by selling potatoes, planted on 17 hectares of land, have seen an outbreak of insects in the potatoes.
68 farmer families of Nigalchula have been affected due to pest infestation in Warkhe potato. Farmers who have been bringing in more than 20 crores annually from Varkhe potatoes have been hit this time due to pests.
Farmer Jeet Bahadur Oli said that the insect, which looks like the larvae of Jhasilkira, has eaten the leaves and stems of the potatoes planted in his seven plantations, and the plants have started to dry up.
He informed that in the beginning, when it was seen on two/four plants, it did not matter much and now all the plants have been eaten by insects. "Before this, such an outbreak of insects was not seen. The biting insect caused a little damage, it would have been better if we used organic pesticides. Even if we use pesticides now, the insects have not disappeared," he said. "We used to pay for the household expenses with the income from the production of potatoes. Since most of the plants have been destroyed, I am worried about how to manage the household expenses.'
Ward president Lal Bahadur Gharti said that the pest infestation was seen in the peaches planted by the farmers for about a month and most of them were destroyed. He informed that the expert team of integrated laboratory of Karnali province came and carried out on-site monitoring after the insects did not die but spread even more despite the farmers spraying pesticides.
'Each farmer was earning between 4 to 5 lakhs annually by growing potatoes. This was the livelihood of many families. Insects have eaten the leaves and the plants are drying up. "It is seen that the crop will not only decrease a lot, but also the cost of planting potatoes will not be raised by the farmers," he said.
Narayan Belbase, Head of Agriculture Branch of Bangad Kupinde Municipality, said that the farmers are in trouble due to the pest infestation in Warkhe potato and about 400 plants out of 17 hectares planted by the farmers have been completely damaged. He informed that the insect had eaten the buds and leaves of the potato plant.
``Especially during potato storage, butterfly moth outbreaks are seen. "When farmers plant seeds of potato infected with insects without paying attention, the larvae turn into adults and when the adults flower on the leaves of the potato crop, the pest outbreak may have spread," he said. He says that the pest has caused a lot of damage to potatoes and after it became a problem, an expert team from the integrated agricultural laboratory of Karnali province was sent to monitor and treatment was started.
Chitra Bahadur Rokaye, Senior Agricultural Economist of Integrated Agricultural Laboratory Surkhet, said that due to the change in climate, there has been no rain for a long time and the farmers have planted damaged seeds. He informed that when the insect larvae in the damaged seeds turned into adult butterflies and flowered on the leaves, the larvae that emerged from them caused damage to the strawberries. According to him, after monitoring, to prevent insect infestation Neem Oil, P.T.M. We have distributed lures and pesticides and started sowing. Efforts are being made to control the disaster by using various technologies. We have provided free tanks to farmers for spraying pesticides.
