Pest attack: Odisha govt to pay compensation soon

The Odisha government today said it would soon dole out compensation to farmers who have suffered crop losses due to pest attack.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will chair a meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation arising out of pest attack, an official said.
Development Commissioner R Balakrishnan today reviewed the situation during a high-level meeting here.
It was decided during the meeting that steps will be accelerated to tackle the situation and the affected farmers would be compensated according to the relief code, a senior official said.
The collectors and other officials of various districts provided information about the prevailing situation in their areas through video conferencing.

Balakrishnan said the situation was under control and there was no need to panic as the area under pest attack was not very large.

The district collectors have been asked to intensify awareness drives. Revenue officials, self help groups (SHGs) and grassroot level workers would be mobilised for the purpose, he said.
The state government has already given the nod for disbursal of assistance for rabi crop loss, he said.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupad Sethi said Rs 216 crore has been sanctioned for drought-affected farmers.
Experts at the meeting felt that the incidence of pest attack increased in some areas due to irregular rainfall and moisture content in the atmosphere, said an official.

Also, mixing of different insecticides, absence of proper gap between plants and excessive use of urea helped the pest spread, he said.
It is estimated that crops in about 1.78 lakh hectares of agricultural land in nine districts of Odisha have been attacked by pests, officials said.
Standing crops in 8,211 villages in 92 blocks and 19 urban local bodies in nine districts are reeling under pest attack, an official of the SRC office said.
Unable to control the attack of brown planthopper, many farmers have burnt their paddy crop in about 10 districts of the state.
P Nabin Kumar, a farmer of Bargarh district who had consumed pesticide last night, died during treatment at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) today, officials said.

Opposition parties including the Congress and the BJP have mounted a scathing attack on the BJD government in the state over the issue.
They have alleged that distribution of spurious pesticides in many areas aggravated the problem.