Assam: District Agriculture Dept takes slew of anti-insect measures to save Jute cultivation in Nagaon 

Nagaon: The Nagaon District Agriculture Department has measures to protect the tiny leaves of jute from various insects such as caterpillars across the district, as the district's thousands and thousands of farmers play a significant role in the production and cultivation of jute in the state.

As per report, Jute has been grown on 8,467 hectares of land in the district this year by farmers from 147 villages under various schemes such as RKVY, NFSM, and others.

It's worth noting that thousands and thousands of a particular type of caterpillar are destroying the tiny leaves of those jute plants in the early stages of growth across the district, causing concern among the district's local farmers.

On Monday, officials from the concerned department, led by district agriculture officer Tarun Hazarika, sub divisional agriculture officers Ranjan Prasad Deka and Premeswar Nath, and agriculture development officer Manoj Baishya, visited various crops fields in Khariamari, Shoulguri, Bilotia, and Sunsiri near Dhing and reviewed the situation.

During the visit, the officials in charge immediately distributed pesticides and other preventive medicines to the farmers who had been affected. In addition, officials from the district agriculture department held a series of awareness programmes for farmers in various locations, urging them to use pesticides and other medicines as soon as possible if caterpillars or other insects damaged their crops, according to sources.

Earlier, caterpillars destroyed almost all crops in the district in 2014, including jute and other crops. But this time, the district agriculture department has gone above and beyond to protect the crops, launching a slew of anti-insect measures, according to Hazarika, who added that the department took the issue very seriously and came forward to inform farmers about the insects.