Sugarcane Growers Seek Government Help in Tackling Crop Disease
 
By Suvarna Brahmavar
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (RD/CN)
 
Udupi, Oct 1: The sugarcane industry in many parts of the district has been affected by crop failure.  Termites eat away the root of the sugarcane in the initial stages and the entire crop dries up at the time of the harvest.  It’s due to termite attack that the crop has been affected over the past three years. 
 
The farming communities in Bennekudru, near here, are engaged in sugarcane cultivation spread over 100 acres of farmland since many centuries.  Even though Bennekudru is the ideal land for growing sugarcane, the termite attack has distressed the farmers.
 

Characteristics of disease affecting sugarcane:
 
The trunk of the sugarcane turns red in the initial stages of the termite attack that shunts the growth and turns dry.
 
Losses:
 
The sugarcane is ready for harvesting usually during December.  However, due to the threat of disease, the farmers have already harvested the crops in order to salvage whatever they can to avoid total loss. Due to the poor quality of sugarcane, the quantum of its extract has dwindled thereby leading to loss in earnings. 
 
Over 150 families of over 250 in the neighbourhood of Bennekudru are engaged in sugarcane farming.  It costs about Rs 30,000 to grow sugarcane on an acre of land and if healthy, the farmers can expect an income of Rs 70,000.
 
“Due to excessive use of chemical fertilizers, the soil has salinity and acidity which has affected the sugarcane farming”, opines a veteran farmer.
 
The sugarcane farmers are distressed over the failure of their crop that has sustained them for many centuries. Meanwhile, the farmer community in Bennekudru expects agricultural officers to make a study of their grievances and suggest remedies that they could follow next year.