The farmers of Chhatisgarh are distressed, despite paddy crops having been grown in 57 lakh acres of land this year, because an invisible ‘spider’ has attacked the land. Its scientific name is ‘Panicle mite’, which feeds on the paddy crops in such a manner, that the farmers do not get to know about it and the standing crops are turning brown and black. Agricultural scientists are of the opinion that on an average, 25 quintals of rice are being produced in an area of 1 acre, out of which, 2 to 5 quintals of rice are being destroyed by the spider.
While various districts of the state have been affected by the panicle mite and the associated loss, no advisory has been released for the farmers yet. The mite outbreak has been reported in a number of districts including Raipur, Dhamtari, Mahasamund, Gariaband, Janjgir, etc.
Panicle mite is a dangerous insect which punctures the paddy grains and sucks on it. The spot of puncture is then attacked by fungus and the paddy grains gets discoloured, and due to the puncture, the process of rice developing fully does not take place. While paddy takes 120-140 days to mature, the mite attacks the grains in 60-70 days, it has been advised by experts to use pesticides at that very time.
