HT Correspondent
NAGAON, May 3: The District Agriculture Department, Nagaon has initiated a slew of measures to protect the tiny leaves of jute from various insects like caterpillars across the district as several thousands farmers of the district always share a major role in production as well as cultivation of jute in the entire state.
Farmers of around 147 villages cultivated jute at around 8,467 hectares of land in the district this year under various schemes including RKVY, NFSM, etc, sources added.
It is worth mentioning that in the very early growth stage, the tiny leaves of those jute are being destroyed by thousands and thousands of a special kind of caterpillars across the district which apparently causes a worry to the local farmers of the district.
Significantly, being informed about it, the officials of the department concerned led by district agriculture officer Tarun Hazarika, sub divisional agriculture officers duo Ranjan Prasad Deka and Premeswar Nath and agriculture development officer Manoj Baishya visited various crops fields at Khariamari, Shoulguri, Bilotia, Sunsiri near Dhing on Monday last and reviewed the entire situation.
During the visit, the officials concerned immediately distributed pesticides as well as other preventive medicines among the victim farmers. Besides, the officials of district agriculture department also organised a series of awareness programmes among the farmers at various places in this regard and urged the farmers community to apply pesticides as well as other medicines at earliest if the caterpillars or other insects damaged their crops, sources added.
While speaking to this correspondent here, Tarun Hazarika, district agriculture officer, Nagaon said that such caterpillars destroyed almost all crops including jute and other in the district in 2014. But this time the district agriculture department has left no stone unturned to protect the crops and has already initiated a slew of measures against those insects, Hazarika said, adding that the department took the issue very seriously and came forward to make farmers aware of those insects.
