Daspalla, Odisha – Vegetable farmers across Daspalla are facing catastrophic crop losses due to uncontrolled pest infestations and plant diseases, with many accusing the horticulture department of complete neglect and failing to deliver promised government assistance. 
Daspalla Vegetable Farmers Face Crop Crisis, Plead for Govt Help | Odisha


For months, farmers have battled outbreaks of root rot in brinjal, leaf scorch, red weevil infestations, and whitefly attacks across crops including ridge gourd, zucchini, and bitter gourd. Despite heavy investments in pesticides and treatments, the diseases continue to spread unchecked. 
Shubhakant Jani, a distressed farmer from Buguda Colony, typifies the crisis: "This year I cultivated brinjal, ridge gourd, zucchini, and bitter gourd across five acres. Pests have destroyed everything. No matter how much pesticide we buy from local shops, nothing works. We haven’t seen a single horticulture officer visit our fields for guidance. Our entire investment is lost."

Systemic Failure in Agricultural Support

The crisis highlights a severe breakdown in Odisha’s agricultural support system:
  • Vanishing Expertise: Repeated attempts by farmers to contact horticulture officers for disease diagnosis and management solutions have failed. The department’s absence leaves farmers relying on ineffective, often incorrect, pesticide advice from local shops.
  • Unfulfilled Schemes: Despite state and central government initiatives for crop diversification and vegetable farming support, Dashpalla’s growers report receiving no subsidies, training, or emergency assistance during this crisis.
  • Market Collapse: Daspalla, traditionally a vegetable supplier to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, now imports vegetables while local produce rots in fields. This supply shock has sent local market prices skyrocketing, burdening consumers while farmers bleed financially.

A Region Abandoned

The disaster extends beyond Buguda Colony. Across Daspalla block, farmers report similar devastation. Crops nurtured with lakhs of rupees in investments are withering. The lack of timely technical intervention has transformed manageable pest issues into regional epidemics.
"The horticulture department conducts training and provides information on pest control elsewhere. Why are we in Daspalla forgotten? We need experts on the ground, now, before every farm fails," demanded another farmer, echoing the community’s desperation.
Farmers’ demands are clear and urgent:
  • Immediate Deployment: Horticulture officers must visit affected fields immediately to diagnose diseases and prescribe targeted treatments.
  • Financial Relief: Emergency compensation packages for farmers facing ruin due to crop failure.
  • Strengthened Advisory Services: Reliable, accessible local extension services providing real-time pest and disease management support.
  • Scheme Accessibility: Transparent processes ensuring Daspalla farmers can actually access existing government subsidies and support programs for vegetable cultivation.
As pests continue their unchecked rampage, Dashpalla’s vegetable farming community stands on the brink. Without swift, decisive action from the state’s agricultural authorities, an entire season’s livelihood faces total annihilation, threatening not just individual farmers, but the region’s food security and economic stability. The time for bureaucratic delay is over; farmers need boots on the ground and tangible support today.

Ratnakar Hota

Journalist

Ratnakar Hota is a journalist. His ground reporting from Daspalla has exposed supply-chain failures, pesticide mismanagement, and bureaucratic apathy. His work empowers farming communities.