Whitefly affects a fraction of cotton crops: Punjab govt

24 Aug '17

2 min read

Merely 18.1 hectares of land under cotton cultivation out of the total area of 3.82 lakh hectares has been affected by whitefly pest in Punjab, as per a report formulated by the agriculture department of the state. It was presented to Captain Amarinder Singh, the chief minister of Punjab, recently in a meeting organised to reflect on the pest situation.

In Bathinda, only 3.6 hectares of area was affected out of the total area of 1,40,000 hectares, while only 10.2 hectares was infested by pest in Mansa out of the total area of 86,010 hectares, as per the report.

In Sri Muktsar Sahib, the total area under cotton cultivation was 64,608 hectares and only 1.6 hectares was affected, whereas Fazilka reported a damage to 2 per cent of the land out of 74,655 hectares. In Barnala, merely 0.7 per cent of the land out 5,460 hectares was infested by whitefly. Infestation was not seen in Faridkot, Moga and Sangrur.

CM Singh has also directed the agriculture department of the state to adopt plots where the cotton crop has been damaged by the whitefly pest in all the villages in the districts of Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Fazilka and Mansa – the highest cotton producing areas in the state.

The adopted plots will be used as demonstration farms to educate farmers regarding pest management, said the government in a statement. (KD)

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