Farmers face harvest failure<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Farmers in Tangerang are facing failed harvests
\nas a result of a jump in the population of snails and rats in
\ntheir paddy fields in the city's coastal districts.<\/p>\n
\"Snails and rats eat young rice stalks,\" Jalirun, a farmer,
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 42-year-old Jalirun and fellow farmers Sukandi, 41,
\nTamiat, 38 and Suntal 39 -- all of them were residents of Pekayon
\ndistrict -- said they had tried to exterminate the pests using
\nseveral methods, all of which had failed.<\/p>\n
\"We tried a traditional way to drive the rats away and we
\nsprayed chemicals into their holes, but both methods failed.\"<\/p>\n
The cost of pesticide to combat snails has reached Rp 15,000
\n(US$1.36) per bottle and was a major financial outlay for the
\nfarmers. It is not known how many bottles the farmers had to buy
\nto treat all of their fields.<\/p>\n
The head of Mauk district, Lili Rojali, said snails and rats
\nhad badly damaged crops over 2,050 hectares of land. Pekayon
\ndistrict has been the worst hit.<\/p>\n
Farmers in Sepatan and Pakuhaji districts said their harvests
\nwould not even reach three tons per hectare because of the
\npestilence.<\/p>\n
Lili said that the case had been reported to the local
\nagriculture office in the hope that the office would assist
\nfarmers eradicate the problem. (emf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/farmers-face-harvest-failure-1447893297",
"image": ""
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