Agri officers play pied piper as rodents plague farmers : The Tribune India

Tribune news service

Nawanshahr, July 17th

The Nawanshahr Ministry of Agriculture organized camps in various villages after farmers complained about the destruction of their fields by rats. Last week, farmers in Bhaghora village and the neighboring villages alerted the ministry to the fact that crops such as rice, maize and fodder crops were grown by rats in villages such as Bhan Majara, Barwa, Baghora, Rakra, Bakapur, Jainpur and other neighboring villages which resulted in enormous losses for the farmers.

In the village of Baghora, a special camp and a farmer’s talk was recently held to train the farmers to deal with the rat problem. Naresh Kataria, Nawanshahr’s block agriculture officer, and other field workers inspected the fields in the villages.

He noticed that the standing plants were badly damaged by rats. “The rat problem can only be solved if a campaign to prevent rats is started across the village,” said the agricultural officer.

He informed the farmers about the method of combating this problem. He said that for one acre of field you can make a mixture of 400 g of corn / wheat or millet grains and add 10 g of cooking oil and 10 g of powdered sugar and keep it in the rat hole for the first two days, three days and the fourth day a similar mixture can be made by mixing 10 g of medicine in it and making 40 such packs. Then this mixture should be added to the rat hole. “Applying the technique can reduce the risk of crop damage from rats,” said the official. He went on to say that no such disease has currently been found in the rice and corn crops. Therefore, unnecessary poisoning should be avoided.

Raj Kumar, Nawanshahr’s chief agriculture officer, said that this season, heavy rains typically flooded the fields, keeping the rodent threat at bay. But this time, as the monsoons are late, the problem has worsened. So we have been campaigning and informing farmers of the method they can use, ”he said, adding that the situation is currently under control.

The officer said, “A rat can adapt to any environment and has a great sense of smell. Therefore, it is important to use the drug in a prescribed amount, otherwise it may smell and the rat would probably never get it, “the official said.

Fight the invaders

The Department of Agriculture advised farmers to prepare a 400g corn / wheat or millet mix for one acre of field and add 10g of cooking oil and 10g of powdered sugar. The mixture should be kept by the rat hole for the first two to three days, and a similar mixture should be made on the fourth day by mixing 10 g of medicine in it. The officials said they could make 40 such packs.