Goalpara: Farmers of this district in lower Assam are facing a double whammy: lack of rainfall during sowing of sali paddy and now pest attack on their fields.

Fulchand Ali, a farmer at Bhatipara under Matia development block, said: "My paddy field is completely under attack by the stem borer ( maazkhowa). First, we suffered for lack of rainfall and now this. We are helpless."

Thousands of hectares of land have come under the pest attack in areas like Sri Suryagiri, Harimura, Bhelakhamar, Domoni and Matia. Agricultural fields along the Assam-Meghalaya border like Zira, Dayrong and Hatigaon are also facing a similar problem.

Asked whether the agriculture department had approached the farmers to solve the problem, Fulchand claimed they did not.

"This is just the beginning of the attack. We are hopeful that with the help of the agriculture department, we will be successful to produce sufficient rice despite this menace," farmer Rahim Ali said.

Subdivisional agriculture office Ikramul Islam said they did not have knowledge about the appearance of the pest. However, he assured to take initiative through the area development officers.

Stem borer can destroy paddy at any stage of the plant from seedling to maturity. The stem borer larvae bore at the base of the plants during the vegetative stage. On older plants, they bore through the upper nodes and feed toward the base.

Altogether 102,600 hectares of land is under cultivation in Goalpara district, of which 52,000 hectares is of sali paddy.