An inexpensive sweeping net is used to get to rice bugs without a single spray of pesticide

Farmers in Bangladesh typically depend on chemical insecticides and spend up to Tk1,000 per bigha (a land unit equivalent to one-third of an acre) for saving rice seeds from pest attacks in the seedbeds. 

Official figures put the yearly estimated aggregated cost of insecticides applied to rice seedbeds at Tk50 crore.

But the recent experience of two trial farms cultivating Aman paddy in southern Bangladesh is a milestone, with not a single spray of insecticides required to control the rice bugs – thanks to the use of a new type of sweeping net, which is cheaper and more convenient.

The recent development of the rectangular hand-held net is a perfect example of how simple technology can make a big difference in agriculture.

The beauty of using the net to get rid of bugs in rice seedbeds is that it is eco-friendly. Unlike insecticides it does not poison the land and water bodies, fish habitats, etc., and it also helps farmers catch and kill only “enemy bugs” (insects that feed on rice seeds or damage them) and release “friendly insects” back to nature.

It takes only a plastic pipe, some galvanized steel nets and a portion of a mosquito net to develop a bug-catching sweeping net.  

Farmers can easily capture insects that damage the paddy sheaves by sweeping back and forth the rectangular sweep net attached to a long-handled frame through the tops of grass, grains and ground foliage in the field. 

Moniruzzaman Kabir, a rice scientist currently stationed at the Barisal regional centre of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), told Dhaka Tribune that rice seedbeds in the two farms of the institute – Sagardi and Char Badna – needed not a single dose of insecticide application.

The Barisal BRRI is one of the country’s oldest farm research outposts.

Kabir, a member of the team that improvised and developed the rectangular sweep net, says the team successfully caught all bugs (i.e., thrips, brown planthopper (BPH), green leafhopper (GLH), etc.) by using the hand-held sweeping net, which costs a maximum of Tk250.

The BRRI in collaboration with the Agricultural Extension Service will now popularize the use of sweeping nets to help farmers save on insecticide costs and promote eco-friendly farming.