Wrong pesticide used to combat pest menace: Gajendra Shekhawat

Insight Bureau: Union MoS Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is on a visit to Odisha to review the pest menace situation in the state, made an explosive statement that the pesticide used by the farmers to kill brown planthopper (BPH), known as chakada poka, was completely faulty.

The Minister after visiting the area, revealed that farmers in pest-affected areas had used ‘Thaimet’ to fight the pest menace. But, it does not kill pest; rather it helps increase production. The farmers were not made aware of the pros and cons of pesticides, he alleged.

“As there was no attempt to educate or create awareness among the farmers, they used medicines at their will and faced the consequences. It was a complete failure of administration. However, there is scope for any blame game now. Both Centre and State governments must coordinate to bail out the farmers now,” he added.

“I will prepare a complete report and submit to Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh. I also urge the state government to help the farmers from the funds provided by the centre for such calamity”, he said.

Earlier, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inspected crop loss due to ‘Chakada Poka’ and drought affected areas in Sonepur and Bargarh districts. He also paid a visit to deceased farmer Brunda Sahu’s family.