Massive attack of cut worms, known as katui poka, on mustard plants in different upazilas of the district worries thousands of farmers as use of pesticides fails to prevent or check the trouble.

Upazila agriculture officials said they were observing the situation very closely and providing necessary advice to the affected farmers.

Local farmers said with the receding of floodwater they planted different varieties of mustard in their lands with a hope of getting a good yield and cover up the losses caused by the flood.

But the insects start cutting the mustard seedlings at a very early stage and dashed their hopes, they alleged.

Farmer Aminul Islam of Paikora village in Kalihati upazila said he planted mustard on 1.5 acres of land this year, but the cut worms have destroyed almost haft of his mustard plants.

"Then I sowed some more seeds for the second time in a season, but the fresh plants were also damaged by the insects," he said, adding that the money he spent in mustard cultivation this season had totally gone in vain.

Kalihati Upazila Agriculture Officer Sajjad Hossain Talukder said mustard was cultivated on 2,800 hectares of land last season and they have a target to cultivate the crop on 3,000 hectares this year.

He said many farmers from different areas have informed them about the cut worms attack.

Meanwhile, farmers in adjacent Basail upazila also complained about the pest attack on their mustard fields.

According to Basail Upazila Agriculture Office the department has a target to cultivate mustard on 4,820 hectares of land this year.

Ranjan Sarkar, a farmer from Jikatolipara village in the upazila, said he has cultivated mustard on one acre of land and the insects already destroyed almost all the seedlings.

He failed to prevent insects attack on his farmland despite spraying insecticides, Ranjan added.

Contacted, Basail Upazila Agriculture Officer Naznin Akter said they have received complaints about the attack of cut worms in different upazilas of the district including some parts of Basail.

Tangail, one of the biggest mustard producing region in the country, alone produces nearly 50,000 tonnes of the crop every year.