Keshobpur ramps up efforts to control pest infestation in crop fields.

Daily Bijoy News, Keshabpur, Jessore Correspondent:

Under the initiative of the Keshabpur Upazila Agriculture Department, extensive activities have been conducted at the field level across 11 unions and the municipal area of the upazila to make farmers aware of protecting paddy and raw crop fields from pest attacks in the current season. These activities included distributing leaflets among farmers, installing light traps, and conducting awareness-raising activities by talking directly to farmers. Present at that time were Jahangir Hossain, Additional Agriculture Officer; Yasir Arafat, Agriculture Extension Officer; Mamunur Rashid, Sub-Assistant Plant Protection Officer; and other sub-assistant agriculture officers.

It is noteworthy that in the relatively high-altitude areas of Keshabpur upazila where paddy has been cultivated after the floods, farmers have become distraught due to massive pest attacks. Most farmers complain that the pesticides currently available in the market are not providing satisfactory results. Farmer Firoz Hossain from Subdia village in the upazila said that his two bighas of brinjal (eggplant) field were completely destroyed by pest attacks. As thousands of taka worth of pesticides did not work, the brinjal plants were eventually cut down. Due to stagnant water all around, farmers are also distraught by massive pest attacks on the planted chili plants.

Daily Bijoy News/ Poresh Debnath