Blight affecting paddy cultivation

No extensive damage to crops

• Only paddy cultivation in Anuradhapura, and Mahaweli C and H zones had been affected 

By Nimal Kolabissa   

Research conducted by the Agricultural Department has revealed that the pest affecting paddy cultivation at present would not result in an extensive crop devastation in the Maha season.   

Director General of Agriculture Dr. Malathi B. Parasuraman told the media in Peradeniya yesterday that between eight and ten percent of 765,000 hectares of paddy cultivation had only been affected by the blight that caused the rice to turn yellow. She said only the paddy cultivation in Anuradhapura, and Mahaweli C and H zones had been affected and not in other areas.   

She pointed out that 351 samples collected from several areas were tested by the Bathalegoda Paddy Research Institute to find that the blight had been caused by poor nutrition and that it could be avoided by applying urea and M.O.P.fertilizer as recommended.   

Dr. Jayantha Senanayaka of the Research Institute said paddy cultivation in Samanthurai and several other areas where the farmers had used organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer both as recommended, had been immune to the pest and that it was a misconception that the use of organic fertilizer had caused it.