Farmers of some Latur, Dharashiv villages face new agri woe as snails eat up soybean crop

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jul 11 (PTI) Snails are the latest headache for farmers in Maharashtra's Latur and Dharashiv districts as they are eating soybean saplings, the problem being especially acute in fields close to rivers and other waterbodies. The snails come out at night and eat the tender leaves of the newly grown soybean crop, Superintendent Agriculture Officer Mahesh Tirthkar told PTI on Saturday. "The problem is currently in five to seven villages of Dharashiv and Latur. The snails are seen in fields near rivers and other water bodies or in areas facing waterlogging. We are telling farmers to keep metaldehyde balls at the boundaries and inside the fields," he said. Metaldehyde is an organic compound predominantly used as a molluscicide to kill slugs and snails, and is widely deployed for agricultural and gardening purposes. The problem needs quick solutions because snails are highly adaptable creatures and can expand their area of operations quickly, Tirthkar emphasised. The snails infesting the fields in the two districts are fairly big, he said, adding that it is not yet known where they have come from. Farmer Baliram Abarbande of Wadal in Latur's Renapur taluka said snails have eaten 75 per cent of his soybean crop on a three-acre plot. "Farmer families are coming together after sunset to catch these snails in order to destroy them later. These snails come out at night. They lay eggs 4-5 inches deep in the soil. So the fields need to be ploughed deep before the next planting," another official said. PTI AW BNM