Cotton bollworm infects crop in Xinjiang

13 Aug '08

2 min read

High temperature, dry weather and an array of other factors has led to the development of second generation of cotton bollworm in northern Xinjiang.

Besides, most of the areas in southern and eastern Xinjiang are also showing symptoms of cotton bollworm. It will be for the first time in history that bollworm has developed so early in northern Xinjiang.

Presently, the second generation cotton bollworm in southern Xinjiang is in their late period of larve pupation while in the northern region, the third generation of bollworm is passing through the stages of adult peak, spawning peak, hatching peak and early age larvae peak.

The volume of cotton moth and egg in the northern region is very large and the prevalent third generation cotton bollworm is likely to cause severe damage to the crop in the period between early to late August.

Bollworm this year has been even more conducive due to climatic factors like high temperature and drought. The latter has occurred for the first time since 1974 making the situation unpredictably grim.

Besides, early arrival of spring has also accelerated the growth of cotton bollworm whose pupation rate is high while mortality rate is quite low. Expert survey's have shown that outbreak of third generation of bollworms will prove to be the most harmful for the cotton crop.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - China

More Textiles News - China...