Cane farmers alarmed as white grubs attack crops

Farmers fume as agri dept fails to identify, curb infestation in D'puri

- JEVIN SELWYN HENRY @Dharmapuri

SUGARCANE fields across Dharmapuri district have slowly started to turn a yellowish brown hue over the past few weeks. While one might assume this to be caused by lack of nutrients or due to arid, dry climatic conditions prevailing in Dharmapuri, but this is not the case. The aforementioned sign is one of the symptoms of the damage done by white grubs, the larvae of scarab beetles.

Farmers have blamed the spread of the insect on the mills and the agriculture department's failure to identify the infestation, which is spread across the district. White grubs afflict the root of sugarcane.