LARKANA, Sept 7: After recent floods, disease has hit paddy crop in upper Sindh and lower Balochistan, with stem borer and leaf folder damaging 10 per cent of the standing crop in the initial stage of the disease.

Sindh Balochistan Rice Millers and Trader Association president Arif Mahesar told this correspondent that from Khairpur Nathan Shah (Dadu) in Sindh to Usta Mohammad in Balochistan, the paddy transplanted in July and now nearing maturity had been badly affected. To make the matter worse, he deplored, the agriculture department had failed to do anything to save the crop from the malicious attack or to take any measure to stop the disease from spreading further.

On the other hand, Mr Mahesar said, the traders had not only increased the prices of insecticides and pesticides but also hoarded the stocks, anticipating further spread of the disease and consequent rise in the prices.

He pointed out that 25 per cent of the crop in Sindh had been swept away by recent rains and floods and warned that the disease may not only drastically reduce the crop production but also lead to rise in rice prices.

A group of rice growers called on Larkana District Coordination Officer Ghulam Mustafa Phull on Friday and asked him to direct the agriculture department to undertake urgent measures to control the disease before it could cause more damages.

Reports from Shadadkot and Usta Mohammad say that stem borer and leaf folder have hit the paddy transplanted in June. Ishaque Mugheri, president, Sindh Abadgar Board, Qambar-Shahdadkot chapter, and Mr Mahesar called for urgent aerial spray of insecticides to halt the fierce attack of the disease on paddy crop, warning that unprecedented damages were inevitable otherwise.