Mawkyrwat, April 28: A few potato farmers in South West Khasi Hills District from Pyndensakwang village and nearby villages have expressed their distress over the attack of insects which are completely devouring all their growing potato leaves and stems in their fields.
As per their statement, the few farmers from Pyndensakwang, S.Lyngkhoi and Korda Ramsiej have expressed a feeling of hopelessness this year for these insects are eating up all the leaves and stems of the potatoes and are left with nothing in about just a day or two due to the abundance of these insects in their fields.
” Even going to the fields to see the crops is scary due to the abundance of these insects”, said one woman farmer during the time when she had gone to the fields which was depleted completely by the insects.
They also said that it is only this year that this has happened and hardly in other years as this year, leading them to lose all hope to harvest as much potatoes as in the previous years because once these insects are there in this manner, even sowing the seeds may likely be impossible or even to continue farming in the year to come. As farmers they had been expecting and confidently hoping that through their hard work and to support their families as well as to send their children to school by farming potatoes and to sell them in the market as well as for consumption at home. They have lost all hope due to the sudden rise of these insects which have completely devoured their crops growing in the fields.
The potato farmers have put forward a request with the Department of Agriculture to kindly visit and witness with their own eyes these insects, while at the same time also placed a request that if there is a way to provide them some assistance in any way so that the farmers do not lose out on their hard work in the cultivation of potatoes.
