Experts discuss ways to control whitefly

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, February 8

Experts from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), agriculture universities and officials from the Agriculture Departments of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan have come out with a common strategy to save cotton crop from whitefly in the coming kharif season.

Dr Jeet Singh Sandhu, Deputy Director General (Crop Sciences), ICAR, headed the ‘strategic review meeting for the management of whitefly’ at the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) here today.

The strategy includes monitoring and surveillance, shortlisting of hybrids found lesser prone to the disease, early sowing of crop, management of weeds, scheduling of pesticides, bringing more land under desi cotton and holding monthly review meetings among others.

Besides, environment-friendly methods such as suction pumps and yellow sticky traps have also been developed to control whitefly.

The Sirsa-based regional station of the CICR has been made the nodal centre for the purpose.

Cotton crop had suffered 50 to 100 per cent damage in Bhiwani, Hisar, Jind, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts of Haryana; Moga, Faridkot, Sangrur and Barnala districts of Punjab; and Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan last year.

The crop was grown on 14 lakh hectares in the region – 5.80 lakh hectares in Haryana, 4.2 lakh hectares in Punjab and 4 lakh hectares in Rajasthan.

“Whitefly not only damaged cotton, but other crops such as guar, soya bean and pulses also. The next target could be potatoes,” said Sandhu, while talking to The Tribune.

He said a common advisory had been developed by the ICAR, CICR, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana and Rajasthan Agriculture University, Bikaner, to meet the challenge this year.

“We will be in the field for four months after the cotton is sown in May this year. We will also reach out to farmers through voice messages under the e-Kapas programme,” said Dr Dalip Monga, Station Director, CICR, Sirsa.