The Centre has decided to despatch a team of experts to assess the possible damage and suggest remedial action to tackle the reported infestation of the standing sugarcane crop in Maharashtra with a pest not seen by growers earlier. The pest, called white woolly aphid, is a new menace in the sugar belt.
The Maharashtra government has informed the ministry that the woolly aphid was first spotted in Sangli district last year. It later spread to Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Ahmednagar and Solapur districts. Now, the infestation has been reported from over one lakh hectares in Maharashtra alone. There were unconfirmed reports of its spread to neighbouring Karnataka as well.
The issue of the aphid attack was discussed today at the meeting of the crop weather watch group of the agriculture ministry which has special secretary Ashoka Kumar Rastogi as its chairman.
The group was informed that sugarcane being a perennial crop, there was a danger that the aphids might remain active in the fields for the next three to four years because of continuous availability of host material. The insect population could proliferate if not checked immediately.
Scientist who are members of the group felt that excessive irrigation of the sugarcane crop and the consequential increased humidity in the field environment were conducive to the growth of the pest.
Rastogi said the central team would include farm experts and scientists as members. It would visit Maharashtra for assessment of the situation and draw up a detailed action plan for eradication of the pest.
The action plan would indicate plant protection measures over the next four to five years. It would also include steps to identify natural predators that consumed aphid insects. This would arrest growth of aphids without use of any pesticide.
