Farmers in several areas of the district are worried as their paddy crops have been damaged by brown plant-hoppers, a pest locally known as chakada.

They have approached the concerned authorities of the agriculture department, but their request for the supply of subsidised pesticide has not been addressed. A three-member team of the district agriculture department on Tuesday paid a visit to the farmlands of the villages affected by the pest attack and confirmed that the crop had been damaged.

A senior official of the district agriculture department said there was a shortage of subsidised pesticide provided by the government and farmers were forced to buy it from the local market.

A farmer said the pesticide he purchased from the market was not effective.

A source said there were reports of pest attack in the villages of two blocks in the district — Balangir Sadar Block and Saintala Block. The villages of Saintala block, which have been affected by the pest attack are: Ghunsar, Bhadra, Dunguripali, Karamtala, Belgain, Kansar and Ambapali while the affected villages in the Balangir Sadar Block are: Sahajbahal, Kudasingha and many other villages.

Rajendra Hota, a farmer of Sahajbahal, said brown plant-hoppers had badly damaged his paddy crop. “I had expected a good yield this year. But brown plant-hoppers have invaded my field and damaged my crop,” he said.

He further said: “As the pesticide provided by the government was not available I was forced to buy it from the open market which was not at all effective.”

Assistant agriculture officer Pramod Kumar Badpanda, who visited a few pest-affected paddy fields, said brown plant-hoppers had started damaging the paddy crop. “The pests are undoubtedly brown plant-hoppers. There was a shortage of the government pesticide but now the stock has arrived and the farmers can get it from us,” Badpanda said.