Pest attack: Farmers tipped on pesticides

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, August 1

Cotton production in the state can fall by 30 per cent this year due to an attack by whiteflies.

Whitefly is a pest that harms cotton crop in two ways – rendering plants weaker by sucking sap from its leaves and acting as carrier for Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCuV), another organism that causes damages the crop.

Babu Lal, Deputy Director, Agriculture, said a campaign has been launched in the district to educate farmers on its management. Cotton has been sown in 5.80 lakh hectares out of which 1.90 lakh hectares are in Sirsa.

Talking to the media, Lal said the farmers as well schoolchildren were being educated about the manner in which whiteflies attacked cotton crops, the damage they could cause and the ways to manage the crops affected by their attack.

“This is a milky white coloured pest that multiplies very rapidly and can lower the cotton productivity by 30 per cent by sucking and causing CLCuV and other diseases to the crop,” he said.

Pesticide made from neem could be used but he warned against the use of synthetic pyrethroid pesticides.

Dr Dalip Monga, Head, Central Institute of Cotton and Research (CICR), said it was too early to quantify the loss in productivity at this stage. “There are two months to go before the crop starts maturing and there is enough time to manage the damage,” he maintained.

He urged the farmers to refrain from spraying a cocktail of several pesticides as this had a negative impact on the crop.