Assam farm lands under attack of swarming caterpillars

After the devastating flood took a toll across Assam, the farmers of the State are facing another threat to their paddy crops.   Swarming caterpillars or armyworms have attacked thousands of hectares of standing crops in at least ten districts of Assam, worrying the farmers, who are now desperately waiting for the intervention of the state government to deal with the situation. According to the estimate of the AssamcAgriculture Department, a total 17,418 hectares of crop land in ten districts have come under the attack of armyworms. Farmers are affected in districts like Golaghat, Dibrugarh Sivsagar, Jorhat, Majuli, North Lakhimpur, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Nalbari and Dhubri. The effect is more in Golaghat district where 6,671 hectares of cropland came under attack from armyworms. Agriculture Minister of State Atul Bora said, "The attack of armyworms or swarming caterpillars has taken an epidemic form. We are concerned. We have taken the matter seriously and our officers are already in the fields taking stock of the situation. I have spoken to the scientists in Assam Agricultural University (AAU) in Jorhat on the matter and they said that the attack can be contained. The department is going to procure the medicines required to spray in the affected fields and help the farmers."