Forty-two farmers in suffered about RM200,000 when 60 hectares of padi fields in Kampung Gong Kulim in Pasir Puteh were destroyed by 'bear lice' ( kutu beruang ) or Scotinophora Coarctata .

Village head Yusuf Hamat, 50, said the lice had attacked crops that were just three weeks old and as a result, they could not harvest the padi that was cultivated in April.

“If not for the lice attack, we would have harvested our crop by now,” he told reporters in Pasir Puteh yesterday.

Yusuf said crops attacked by the lice had dried up due to the heat.

He hoped the state government or federal government would assist the farmers to start replanting the affected areas by next month.

Meanwhile, deputy director of the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) in Kemasin Semerak, Mustapa Hamzah, when contacted, said they would carry out an investigation to find out the cost of damage.

A report would be send to the Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Ministry for further action, he said.

- Bernama