Agri Dept Kashmir rebuts news item
‘Incidence of some diseases in the paddy fields of village Amirabad Tral’
Terms it baseless, false &
malicious; advises concerned media outlet to seek clarification before
publishing unverified claims
SRINAGAR, AUGUST 07:
Agriculture Department Kashmir today rebutted a news item carried by some
media platform titled ‘Incidence of some diseases in the paddy fields of
Amirabad Tral,’ terming it baseless, false and malicious.
In an official handout issued here,
the Department informed that taking cognizance of the issue a joint team of
Directorate of Agriculture Kashmir headed by Joint Director Agriculture
Extension Kashmir, Sartaj Ahmad Shah accompanied by Plant Pathologist Kashmir,
Bhabishan Jasrotia; Dr. Shabir-U-Rehman, Dr. Sageera Showkat and Ajaz Ahmad
Scientists from SKUAST Kashmir including Bashir Ahmad Rather, Professor
Entomology; Dr. Fayaz Ahmad, Professor Pathology and Scientist from KVK
Malangpora Dr. Waseem Ahmad; Assistant Professor Plant Pathology visited the
affected patches of paddy land comprising of about 3 kanals in the said village
and after keen observation it was noticed that there are no symptoms of any
disease.
However, it was given out that
keeping in view the economically non-significant damage to some spikelets and
apprehension of the farmers it was decided and conveyed to the farmers to spray
Cholorophyriphos 20 EC at 1 ml/lt of water to the affected fields as
prophylactic measures.
Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer
Tral, Agriculture Extension Officer Tral and his team were also present on the
occasion.
“Therefore keeping in view all the
above-mentioned facts on the ground, the contents of the news story are far
from the truth and appear to have been deliberately attempted to tarnish the
reputation of the department,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department
Kashmir has advised concerned media outlets to seek clarification before
publishing unverified claims to avoid spreading misinformation.