The specter of disease forces farmer to destroy 15 acres of 1,350 mango trees in Krishnagiri

Mango trees at the 15-acre Pochampally farm in Krishnagiri that were cut down after a pest attack. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Last week, 58-year-old S. Ranganathan cut and destroyed 1,350 full-grown mango trees on his 15 acres. And this week, he intentionally ended his four-year-old battle with mango thrips, the common pest that plagues mangoes.

The sight of decades-old trees being felled spoke of a specter of infection in the mango fields of Pochampally, a block with the highest cropped area of ​​mangoes in the district. Thrips, the common pest that infests mango trees by feeding on all its parts, had always responded to insecticides. But in the past four years, Mr. Ranganathan had noticed something strange. “Earlier, when I used to sprinkle [pesticides], within 10 minutes the insects will die. But, later, I started seeing insects crawling and moving. It scared me,” he said.

Across farms, while pests became resistant to insecticides, farmers grew desperate and pesticide companies flocked to mango-growing blocks, promising new and improved products. “Every company came in, had meetings and training that their pesticide would kill [the pests], I bought different chemicals that the companies hoped would work,” says Mr. Ranganathan, who is also the president of the Puliyampatti panchayat in Pochampally.

Mr. Ranganathan has been cultivating mangoes for more than 30 years on well-irrigated land. “I used to systematize farming techniques and teach farmers how to harvest a good crop,” he recalls.

‘Not an easy decision’

A resigned and visibly emotional Mr. Ranganathan says it was not an easy decision. “I did everything I could. I was spending ₹4 lakh a year on pesticides and it was making losses year after year. I grew these trees, nurtured them and this week, I was forced to kill them myself,” he says, his voice trembling.

It was this and their relative prosperity to be able to survive a seemingly economic loss that sent psychological ripples among the small farmers of Pochampally. “if he [Mr. Ranganathan] Unable to contain the disease and maintain his farm, what about the rest of us whose mainstay is mango cultivation,” said KM Soundararajan, coordinator of the Krishnagiri Mango Farmers Association.

disease assessment

Last Friday, a tripartite meeting between mango farmers and the pulp industry on a remunerative starting price for mangoes as pulp units start procuring the fruit saw a provisional disease assessment report by the horticulture department.

As per the assessment, a temporary production loss of 53% was observed in five major mango producing blocks- Bargur, Kaveripattinam, Mathur, Krishnagiri and Uthangarai and it was likely to increase.

The assessment, before collector Deepak Jacob, was conducted by a micro-level scientific team comprising horticulture officials, university scientists and farmers, which inspected 160 farms.

“The fields are infested with thrips and the initial assessment was that complete damage was observed in fields where insecticides were used excessively and cultivars (growth regulators) were used and large mango fields in close proximity to each other. In scattered blocks of mango fields, the attack is less,” said the joint director (JD) of horticulture.

“A detailed research-based study will be conducted and prepared before the next session,” he told the collector.

The mango growing area of ​​Krishnagiri, which had put the district on the map of mango production, was facing crisis. JD suggested to switch to organic farming saying that the department will try and prepare a package for organic farming before next season.

Mr Sundararajan, who has been vocal in his criticism of the horticulture department, alleged that the department did not intervene when needed to provide any permanent help or training to the farmers. This made farmers turn to pesticide dealers out of desperation. “The intervention must be advance and timely,” he said.