Farmers said they chose to set the plantation on fire mainly as disease-hit plants could not be used as straw as well. Marshi is a popular variety of rice produced in the district. According to District Agricultural Development Office (DADO), it was planted in 40 percent of the total arable land in the district.[break]
The disease has hurt all farmers that planted Marshi variety of paddy, said Ram Datta Rawal, a farmer of Chhina in Mahat VDC-9. “The plants failed to bear fruits and they could not be used as straw as well. It was better to burn them as that will help in enhancing soil´s productivity,” he added.
While majority of the farmers that planted Marshi variety have set their plantation ablaze, other have not even bothered to clear the fields. “I have left my plantation as it is because there is no point of harvesting,” Raj Kumar Mahat, another farmer of Mahat village, said.
As a result of blast outbreak, Jumla DADO has estimated that the production of Marshi variety of paddy will drop by 90 percent. “In total, it is going to lower total paddy output of the district by 30 percent,” said Bed Prasad Chaulagain, chief of DADO.
Apart from paddy, he said the farmers this year are going to suffer from loss in potato and beans productions as well.
On being asked why DADO did not take timely steps to control the disease, officials said they were not aware of the outbreak till late. “Probably, the seeds were infested with the disease. We received information about the disease only when it was too late and we could do nothing,” said Chaulagain.
The extent of damage was recorded the most in villages like Chandannath, Depal Gaun and Narakot, among others.
Blast spreads through fungal attack. If reported on time, its spread can easily be controlled by using organic-pesticide. Use of chemical pesticide too could have also controlled the disease. But as Jumla has been declared as ´organic district´, farmers do not use chemicals to boost production as well as control diseases.
Officials, however, said the disease has not affected production of other two varieties of paddy -- Chandannath 1 and Chandannath 3 -- planted in the district.
These varieties are tagged as blast resistant and their yields stand at 19 quintals per hectare, which is higher than Marshi´s yield (15 quintals per hectare). Because of these factors, technicians have been suggesting farmers to switch to these varieties.
However, farmers still prefer to plant Marshi because it tastes better and is convenient to harvest as well. Paddy is planted in 3,170 hectares in Jumla. Of that, farmers had planted Marshi in 1,670 hectares.
Amid drop in production, something which is feared to further deepen food scarcity in the district, Chaulagain said DADO is soon corresponding with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Department of Agriculture to provide some relief package to the farmers.
“We are preparing to distribute wheat seeds to compensate the farmers for the loss of their crop,” Chaulagain said, adding that the office will also distribute improved paddy seeds for the next plantation season.
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