Area under cotton cultivation increased in Mansa district
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, May 28
The area under cotton cultivation has been increased in Mansa district due to an uninterrupted power and water supply to farmers and advance planning for cotton crop being implemented from the month of February.
As per a note issued on Tuesday, Mansa DC Apneet Riyait said the area under cotton cultivation was 54,585 hectares in the district last year, but it has now been increased to 76,000 hectares. District Agriculture Officer Dr Gurmail Singh Chahal said farmers had been getting an uninterrupted water supply for irrigation since April 25 this year.
Also, the PSPCL and field staff of the Power Department was ensuring that farmers got an uninterrupted power supply for 10 to 12 hours. He revealed that around 3.96 lakh packets of hybrid cotton had already been sold in Mansa district and there was no paucity of any kinds of cotton seeds.
He said planning for cotton crop was being implemented from February. On February 25, a meeting of all the departments was held to control whitefly by destroying its alternate host plants. All departments were directed to remove the plants hosting whitefly in the areas under their jurisdiction.
Besides, the Agriculture Department has held one district-level, five block-level and 440 village-level farmers training camps to motivate them to cultivate cotton and give technical know-how regarding the same. He said farmers were given pamphlets regarding cotton cultivation.
Announcements were made at village gurdwaras, motivating farmers not to use Gujarat seeds, following which no seed from Gujarat has been sown in Mansa district. Before the cotton sowing, the department had organised five training camps for input dealers and were asked to sell only Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) recommended seeds.
