Whitefly attack worries Bagerhat farmers
The insect has mainly attacked coconut, betel nut and guava trees
Farmers at different villages in Kachua upazila are worried due to attack on different trees by whitefly pest.
The pest typically feeds on the undersides of plant leaves, said Raghunath Kar, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bagerhat.
The villages include Sangdia, Mosni, Afra, Narendrapur and Sreerampur, said locals.
Samir Chowdhury, a retired schoolteacher of Sangdia village, said "The whitefly has mainly attacked our coconut, betel nut and guava trees. of the trees, betel nut is affected badly by the pest."
"Our coconut trees are now not able to bear coconuts like before. The trees are dying due to the pest attack," he said.
Ashim Chakrabortty of the village said ''I have around 1000 betel nut and coconut trees. Most of the trees are affected by the whitefly."
"The undersides of the leaves are becoming whitening while the upper sides becoming blackish. It is my only source of income. If the trees die, I don't know how can I survive,'' said Ashim.
Another farmer Rustam Sheikh of Afra village said as most of the trees are tall, it is not possible to spray insecticides all the trees.
"If the government takes an initiative to spray insecticides, our trees can be survived," said the farmer.
Abul Hossain Khan of the same village said there are many coconut trees in his fish enclosures. At present, there is not so much coconut in the trees.
Some green coconuts do not even grow. At the end of the rainy season, the whitefly pest attacks undersides of the leaves. The insect covers almost half of the leaf thickness.
The DAE official said the whitefly pest has attacked different trees in other districts besides Bagerhat.
They have already informed the higher authorities about the matter, he said.
Farmers can use various pesticides after mixing those with detergents, he added. When the rain will come, it will be controlled to some extent, said the official.