Armyworm attack on maize: Pesticides sprinkled using drones

TIRUCHY: After complaints of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in maize across Ariyalur district, officials sprinkled pesticide using drones.

The protection exercise was inspected personnally by District Collector J Annie Mary Swarna on Saturday.

Maize, a food cash crop, has been cultivated in an area of 21,000 ha in Ariyalur district. Recently, there were widespread complaints from farmers in the district about armyworm attack in crops, which were 25 and 35 days old. The issue was raised during the recent farmers grievances redressal meet also and petitions were submitted to officials seeking action to control the pest.

Acting quickly on the issue, Annie Mary Swarna directed agri officials to attend to the problem and initiate steps to control the pest. Officials, who conducted a field inspection, said that apart from the armyworm, spodoptera litura pest had also attacked the crops and they also recommended to sprinkle pest control solution by drones as the process for sprinkling the pest control solution to the crops age between 60 and 70 days would be difficult.

Later, the District Collector instructed the officials to sprinkle the pesticide using drones across the district and farmers were intimated to avail the facility.

On Saturday, the district collector Annie Mary Swarna inaugurated the sprinkling of pesticide by drones at Valajanagaram village. She also asked the farmers to follow the instructions by the agriculture officials and boost the yield. Joint Director (agri) K Palanisamy, assistant director (quality control)D Radhakrishnan and other officials also accompanied the Collector.