Mangaluru, (DHNS): The Horticulture Department will offer revival packages to owners of coconut plantations affected by black-headed leaf-eating caterpillars, predominantly located in Ullal region off Mangaluru.

Farmers will be provided financial assistance at the rate of ?1,000 per affected tree (to a maximum of ?44,750 a hectare), said Seema, senior assistant director of the department.

The package would help farmers to remove completely the affected tree and plant a new sapling, she said at a demonstration programme organised in association with Krishi Vijnana Kendra at an affected farm in Kallapu.

Ms. Seema said the department, along with the Revenue Department, will conduct a joint survey of the plantations affected shortly before offering the package.

Plantations spread across an estimated 100 hectares of land appear to have been affected by the caterpillars as per preliminary estimation, she said. The survey is planned to get exact extent of plantations-affected, she added.

Ms. Seema said the department has been providing scientifically-generated parasitoids to farmers to quell the caterpillar menace. While an estimated 20 lakh parasitoids are required, about 12 lakh would be produced at department’s farm in Thumbe, while the remaining would be procured from neighbouring districts.

The official urged farmers to undertake appropriate maintenance of the plantations. They should not leave residues of the affected tree and instead burn them to prevent further growth of the caterpillar, she said. On the occasion, parasitoids were released on the tress that were affected.