Bhubaneswar: 13/11/17: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.