Whitefly detected in cotton-producing districts: Survey

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 7

Farmers are worried as a recent survey by Sirsa-based regional station of the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) pointed out the presence of whiteflies in almost all districts where crop is produced.

Cotton is largely produced in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Jind districts.

The presence of whiteflies is much below the economic threshold level (ETL), but farmers fear the pest could damage the crop at later stages.

Gurdial Mehta, a farmer from Sirsa’s Bappa village and former president of the Sirsa Grain Market Traders’ Association, alleged the state government was not serious about the problem.

“After the last year’s damage, a joint committee of experts from Punjab and Haryana was constituted. Punjab accepted the committee’s report and took action on it, while Haryana left farmers to their fate,” he alleged.

Dilip Monga, principal scientist and in-charge of the CICR, confirmed the presence of whitefly in almost all districts where cotton was produced, but he said its density was low.

“Hardly two to three whiteflies per leave have been found in most of the areas where the survey was carried out on June 3. Less than 10 adult insects per leaf is considered below the ETL and does not require any action,” he said.

Monga said survey undertaken by scientists of Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, brought out that high density of whiteflies were found in fields where vegetables were also grown.

GS Mann, a progressive farmer from Sirsa’s Kirpal Patti village, said his fields were immune to whitefly attack because he had taken care that his cotton fields were away from vegetable crops.