Karnataka sprays drinks on fields

Farmers in the state have adopted this innovative method to get rid of pests

BANGALORE: Liquor sales have been shooting up in Karnataka’s Kolar district as well but this had nothing do with the Christmas and New Year celebrations. After Coca Cola and Pepsi were put to use as pesticides elsewhere, the farmers of Kolar have been trying out liquor on their potato crops.

Farmers believe that the booze, illicit to boot, that gives them a high can cure the potato crop that has been affected by Angamari disease. Liquor’s effectiveness as a pesticide is hotly debated by officials.

But this has doubled liquor sales in the district which already has the record of second highest liquor consumption in Karnataka.

“We have reports of farmers using liquor as pesticides,” admitted K J Devendrappa, joint director (agriculture) of Kolar district. “The farmers have taken to it as fungicides failed to control Angamari,” he added. Angamari is a fungus, which appears as black spots on the plant.

The farmers have apparently found the liquor option cheaper as well. A litre of illicit liquor costs about Rs 50 against the Rs 1,000 that they have to shell down for the chemical pesticide recommended for the crop.

Potato, cultivated in 9,000 hectares in the district, is one of the main sources of income for the farmers.

The crop was destroyed by the spread of the disease this year. Officials claim that farmers had failed to bring the gravity of the problem to their notice.

Farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka claimed two years ago that the use of Coca Cola and Pepsi, said to be contaminated with pesticides, was useful against crops.

“Anything that contains sucrose or nitrogen can be used as pesticides for a short period,” said M R Hegde of Indian Institute of Horticulture Research. 

“Sucrose and nitrogen produce nutrients needed by the plants and help them grow.”