Pests and diseases have attacked at least 1,600 hectares of rice fileds in four regencies in southern Central Java, causing major losses to local farmers.
Tri Gunawan, head of the Banyumas regency's Agricultural Pest and Disease Laboratory, said Tuesday that farmers in Banyumas, Purbalingga, Cilacap, and Banjarnegara have been suffering from the attacks.
“The biggest losses are caused by rats and bacterial blight disease. The other attacking pests are stemborer moths, rice ear bugs and mealy bugs,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Tri said the population of rats was growing because farmers did not plant their crops simultaneously, meaning rice has become available for rats for a longer period.
The laboratory also recorded a sharp increase in cases of bacterial blight disease, which are caused by high humidity during the dry season, which created perfect conditions for the bacteria to grow. (dre)
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