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SANGHAR, May 9: A forty-foot breach occurred in the Dim branch at Deh 15 near Khadro early on Sunday. A large number of villagers reached the spot to plug the breach while irrigation department officials also arrived to supervise the plugging work.
However, a large area of freshly-sown cotton crop and land prepared for cotton sowing came under water. Supply from the Jamrao Canal was closed and water diverted to other branches.
Till the filing of this report, the breach was not plugged, but irrigation officials said over the telephone that it would be plugged soon and water supply restored by Monday (today). The branch had been closed under the rotation system and water was released in it on Thursday.
DISEASE: The moong (a kind of pulse) crop has been heavily affected by an unidentified disease that attacks the crop in the maturity stage with yellow spots appearing on some plants initially and the entire crop turning yellow in a few days.
In the first case, there is no formation of pads while in the other, the pads form and either stun or destroy the harvest. Some farmers have unsuccessfully tried different pesticides and fungicides to contain the disease, locally known as "bug ji beemari" or yellow virus.
So far, no agriculture department official has taken notice of the scourge which appeared in the past few years, initially on small patches and scattered areas, nor has any scientific identification been made, as a result, it has spread in the entire district.
The Small Growers Association and local farmers have urged the government to take immediate steps to identify and control the disease as the infected crop is still standing at some places, allowing agriculture scientists to take samples.
