Saturday November 21, 2009
Farmers facing new threat from snails
By WINNIE YEOH
ALOR SETAR: Although flood had subsided over the last couple of days, rice farmers here are facing a new threat from the golden apple snails, locally known as siput gondang emas.
The snails are breeding fast and the pinkish eggs can be seen in weeds in the padi fields.
Farmer Marzuki Saad, 56, said the pests were brought in by water overflowing from rivers.
New threat: Marzuki showing the golden apple snails (left) and its eggs at his flooded padi field yesterday. He said although the rain had stopped, the water which was released from the Pedu Dam was accumulating in the fields.
“The seedlings will be destroyed if submerged in water for 12 days. The water in my field cannot flow out as the water levels at nearby streams and rivers are still high.
“The snails will die in three days if I spray pesticide but the water flowing in will bring in more snails,” he said when met at his rice field at Kampung Teluk Binasa at Gunung Keriang yesterday.
Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) general manager Datuk Abdul Rahim Saleh said the snails were not a big issue.
He said Mada was conducting an ongoing campaign to educate farmers on how to eradicate the snails.
“As the snails will eat young shoots, we advise farmers to use transplanter machines which plant older shoots. It will also ensure better weed management,” he said.
Meanwhile, six of the seven relief centres in the state have been closed except the Bandar Baru centre which is housing 239 flood victims.
He said a total of 3,097 food evacuees from 798 families had returned to their homes.
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