Root grubs in sugarcane crop devastates farmers

Sugarcane growers of the district who were hoping for a good yield are now a worried lot. Their crop has been infested by root grubs, a worm that feeds on the roots of sugarcane, affecting the yield.

There is a goal to grow 4.89 lakh metric tonnes of sugarcane at 5,871 hectare across the district.

Farmers have sown the crop at Kabini Right Bank Canal and in farms that are irrigated by borewells. As the water table has depleted alarmingly, there is no sufficient water in borewells affecting sugarcane crops in the region.

The root grubs have attacked those crops that are facing water shortage.

It is not just the sugarcane crop, but food grains, vegetables, oilseeds and other horticultural crops too have been affected.

The pests live on organic feed for the first few days and later they start eating away the roots. The prevalence of root grubs is more between June and October.

The affected plant starts withering. As the worms affect the roots directly, there is no way of protecting the plant, according to entomologists.

It is said that these worms lay 20 to 80 eggs at a time.

The eggs hatch in 10 to 12 days.

Entomologist Dr Shivarai Navi of Haradanahalli Agricultural Science Centre said the farmers should consult experts and mix pesticides suggested by them to control the pests.

As the soil is infested with worms, the land should be tilled twice after harvest in December and January. The worms inside the soil are exposed to sunlight and also eaten by birds. Fire too helps in getting rid of the pests, he added.