Ruchika M Khanna
Chandigarh, August 19
Hundreds of hectares of land under the cotton crop, once referred to as white gold, has come under attack of a wide range of insects like whitefly, pink bollworm and mealybug. This is likely to hit the cotton production this year.
Cotton target unlikely to be met
The area under cotton this year is 2.48 lakh hectare, against 2.52 lakh hectare last year
Production this year was targeted at 6.5L bales, against 6.46 last year. The target is unlikely to be met this year
An Agri Dept report shows 32,996 acres under cotton has suffered 100% damage
Of this, 15,038 acres is due to rains in Fazilka and Mansa
Low-quality seeds to blame: ACS
The dept did spread awareness against the use of low-quality seed, but many farmers fell prey to the marketing gimmicks of dealers. But, our staff are regularly visiting fields and advising farmers on best practices for dealing with the pest attack. Sarvjit Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture
The problem has been reported in several villages in the cotton belt, comprising districts in the southern Malwa region. As a result, some farmers have ploughed their fields in villages of Mansa and Bathinda, and opted for transplanting paddy. Others, who have decided to go with cotton, are spending thousands of rupees on insecticides.
Ram Singh, president of Mansa unit of the BKU, said the cotton crop on 16,085 acres in the district alone had been affected after it came under the pest attack. “The figure, shared by district agriculture officials, is much higher in Bathinda,” said Ram Singh of Bhaini Bagha. “The sad part is that the Agriculture Minister failed to deliver on his assurance to farmers to probe the sale of low-quality seeds and to set up a helpline,” he added.
Malkit Singh, a cotton farmer from Kot Dharmu in Mansa, said many farmers had ploughed their fields after the pest attack. “Those who had access to irrigation bought expensive paddy seedlings and went in for cultivation. Others are spending additional Rs 1,000 per acre on sprays to save their crops from whitefly and pink bollworm. In some areas, sprays for mealy bugs too have to be used,” he rued.
Inquiries made by The Tribune revealed that while the poor quality BT cotton seed, sold to farmers here by some Gujarat-based firms, were to be blamed for the attack, the problem of whitefly in the cotton belt had arisen because of the farmers growing moong in June. “Moong is susceptible to whitefly attack. After the crop was harvested and farmers sowed cotton seeds, the whitefly simply attacked the crop. Next year onwards, we will ensure that moong cultivation is not allowed in the cotton belt,” a senior officer in the Agriculture Department said.
