Soybean farmers in a hairy situation

According to the DAE office in Noakhali, about 7,200 hectares of land across six unions of Subarnachar upazila will be brought under soybean cultivation this planting season

Soybean growers in Subarnachar upazila of Noakhali are deeply concerned about incurring heavy losses this year as their fields are being attacked by a surge of hairy caterpillars, locally known as bichha poka.

The threat of a pest epidemic is particularly high right now as insecticides are having little effect in controlling the menace while the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is not providing much cooperation in this regard, farmers said.

According to the DAE office in Noakhali, about 7,200 hectares of land across six unions of Subarnachar upazila will be brought under soybean cultivation this planting season, which began mid-December last year and will conclude in late April, to produce around 21,600 tonnes of oilseed.

During a visit to 10 different soybean fields in Char Amanullah union, this correspondent found that many of the plants were damaged by hairy caterpillars, which feed on low leaves and stems.

Once the insects infect a plant, its leaves become porous, turn brown and eventually die.

Naresh Mahajan, a resident of Char Amanullah, said he cultivated soybean on five acres of land for Tk 1 lakh, much of which was funded by non-government organisations and local moneylenders.

"I was expecting a yield of about 1,500 kilogrammes of seed per acre but now the whole field is infested," he added.

Mahajan went on to say that local DAE officials are yet to visit the area and provide advice on what kind of insecticides can be applied to protect their crops.

Kiran Chandra Das, another farmer in the union, said it would be near impossible to make a profit this year as the attack of hairy caterpillars will make it difficult to even recover production costs.

"Still though, no one from the DAE has come to visit," he added.

Md Shahidul Haque, deputy director of the DAE in Noakhali, said he did not know about the situation but is now looking into it.

When contacted, Harunur Rashid, agriculture officer of Subarnachar upazila, outright denied allegations of their failure to address the issue.

"I and the assistant agriculture officers regularly visits the field but no one told me about this matter," he said.

Pointing to how high temperatures during the day followed by cool, foggy nights are the perfect breeding conditions for leaf-eating insects, Rashid blamed the current weather for the rising number of pests.

"But the crops can be easily protected if quality insecticides are properly applied," he said.

Many farmers buy low quality insecticides that they dilute in large quantities of water before applying them to plants. "As such, the insects do not die," Rashid added.

A total of around 1.35 lakh tonnes of soybean seeds were produced in Bangladesh in fiscal 2020-21, as per DAE data.

This year though, the DAE estimates that about 1.39 lakh tonnes of the oilseed will be produced from 79,100 hectares of land across the country, mainly Laxmipur and Noakhali.