सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Gandaki. Farmers in Kaski are worried after the orange orchards turned black and stopped producing due to the outbreak of the cutworm. The outbreak of the cutworm disease has increased in the orange orchards of Kaski, which have been on the verge of extinction for about a decade and a half due to the ‘sector greening disease’.
The orange orchards of local farmers in Nachnechaur are currently looking black and ugly due to the outbreak of the cutworm. The outbreak of the cutworm, which was first seen in the orange orchards located in Kafalbote, Pokhara Metropolitan City-21, is now spreading to the surrounding areas and production is decreasing, says local orange farmer Narayan Subedi. Orange farmer Subedi said, ‘In the past, even if a few plants were affected by blight, it would not have much effect, but this time, the entire orange garden has suddenly turned black and the plants have stopped growing. What fruit will I get now and how much will I be able to eat and sell?’
Local farmers say that the blight disease has created a situation where farmers in Kaski, including Kafalbote and Kristi Nachnechaur, who have been earning some money for their families every year from selling oranges, have had to leave their villages due to the blight disease. Last year, there were no oranges to taste due to the hailstorm that came during the flowering period, and it seemed that even the plants would die. Subedi, who is involved in agricultural work, said, ‘The plants grew well, but this year the fruit was also good, but the unexpected disease destroyed the garden. When the weather was good, the income from selling oranges would be between Rs 8 and 1 million, but now it has all gone.’
Farmer Subedi, who is the accounting officer of Pokhara Metropolitan City, said, ‘After the garden looked completely black, as per the advice given based on the monitoring conducted by a team including technicians from the Metropolitan Agriculture Division, a week ago, the medicine ‘Rover’ and ‘Fossil’ were mixed in water and placed on each orange tree.’
This year too, he has planted 67 new orange plants in the vacant space of the garden. The disease has also been seen in the new plants. The effect of the medicine has not been seen in the garden. Local farmers Bishnu Prasad Subedi and Nawaraj Subedi say that the disease, which was seen in an orange orchard with an area of about 250 ropanis in Kafalbote, has now spread to other places.
Say that they spent three days treating the neighboring orange orchard after the blight disease was seen, they said, ‘After a few days, our orchard also started looking black. The effect of the medicine applied a week ago has not been seen. The problem of blight disease is troubling the farmers.’ The insects suck the juice from the leaves, stems, seeds and fruits of the orange, due to which the plants cannot grow. Such insects cause a lot of damage to small plants. Manohar Kadaria, head of the Metropolitan Agriculture Division, informed that the disease outbreak increases as the soft-bodied cutworms secrete a honey-like sweet substance from their bodies.
According to him, the sugary substance secreted by the cutworms causes excessive growth of black mold, which covers the leaves, stems and fruits of the orange tree with a smoke-like substance. The smoke obstructs the process of absorbing light and hinders the process of making food for the plant. Stating that the body color of the cutworm is similar to the leaves and bark of the orange tree, he said, “The thin, round and flat reddish-brown cutworms are covered with a waxy coating and suck the sap from all parts of the plant, including the branches, shoots and fruits, causing damage.”
The Pokhara Metropolitan City has been expanding the orange pocket area and providing annual subsidies to farmers along with necessary support, but farmers are worried as the outbreak of cutworms in the area has increased. As soon as the information was received that farmers were worried about the blight disease, the division chief, Kadaria, informed that they are working towards control and eradication. Local orange farmers say that although orange production is good in the Kristi, Phedipatan, Maspatan, Baheli, and Ramdilgaya areas of Pokhara Metropolitan City-21, natural disasters such as hailstorms during flowering, budding, and fruit sales cause serious problems.
Farmers who have been surviving the ‘sector greening virus’, including hailstorms and natural disasters, and the threat of wild animals, have had to face the plague of cutworms for the first time this year. Pokhara Metropolitan City has been providing subsidy support to orange farmers in the orange pocket area for five years based on the number of plants. Pokhara Metropolitan City had provided a subsidy of Rs. 2.5 million in the fiscal year 2089/81 to promote orange farming.
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