BARPETA, Sept 19 - Approximately 2,041 hectares of cropland have been infested by army worms in five out of 16 agriculture circles in Barpeta district so far.
As the situation is yet to be brought under control, the pest- infested areas are likely to increase within the next few days.
According to official sources, large areas of paddy fields have been destroyed in Golibandha, Pathsala, Belbari, Patacharkuchi and Bhabanipur agriculture sectors in Barpeta district.
However, the district administration has taken measures to control the pest infestation. They have distributed pesticides among the cultivators that it received from the State Agriculture Department. The Deputy Commissioner himself has reviewed the situation in Patacharkuchi Circle and has deputed several officials to visit the other affected areas.
Additional deputy commissioners Tankeswar Das, Hemanta Bhuyan, Abhijit Sinha, Manoj Sikaria and Satyajyoti Baruah have in the meantime been deputed to Golibandha, Pathsala, Belbari, Barpeta and Bhabanipir circles respectively. They have been asked to visit the affected areas extensively and assess the situation properly.
A review meeting held at the conference room of the office of the Deputy Commissioner and attended by the additional deputy commissioners, circle officers, and top officers of the Agriculture Department discussed the prevailing situation in detail. The meeting felt that the pesticide supplied by the Government was not adequate to meet the vast requirement and hence decided to purchase additional requirements locally and distribute them among the farmers.
