The acreage of paddy crop infested by various types of pests and diseases in the State has almost tripled in a matter of just one week making farmers jittery. However, standing crop in 2,72,665 acres got infested by October 15. The acreage of groundnut crop that was infested came down from 60,916.42 acres to 55,242.87 acres during the week. There has also been an increase in the types of diseases that have infested paddy over the week. According to the Agriculture Department, stem borer, leaf folder, rice blast, BPH (Brown Plant Hopper), and Sheath Blight were recorded as the pests and diseases that infested standing paddy crop on October 9.

Source: The Hindu October 21, 2019 17:15 UTC