Dist sees hike in per hectare yield of cotton crop

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 25

Deputy Commissioner B Srinivasan on Tuesday directed officials of the Agriculture Department to maintain the growth of the increasing per hectare yield of cotton crop in Bathinda district so that farmers continue to earn handsomely.

The per hectare collection of lint — prepared from cotton — has been on the rise in Bathinda since 2016. From 839 kg/hectare in 2016-17, its collection increased to 843 kg per hectare in 2017-18 and it reached highest ever 888 kg/hectare during 2018-19.

The DC asked the department officials to remain in touch with the cotton growers and keep them updated about the problems pertaining to the diseases on the crop, judicious use of seeds, timely irrigation and the utilisation of insecticides and pesticides as per the requirement.

Chief Agriculture Officer Guradit Singh said department officials were leaving no stone unturned to make the farmers aware of any attack of diseases in advance.

“We are keeping a tight grip on this issue and always remain in touch with cotton growers, which has helped in increasing the per hectare yield of this crop in the district,” he said.

The Chief Agriculture Officer said next year (2019-20) they were eying to achieve the target of 920 kg/hectare yield and would also bring 1, 40,000 hectare of area under the crop. This year, the total area under this crop was 91,000 hectares.

He pointed out that despite fluctuations in the total area under the cotton crop during the past few years, it had registered a rise of per hectare yield in the past three years.

The highest ever area under the crop was in 1995-96 when 1,87,000 hectares agricultural land in the district was brought under the crop, he added. In 1995-96, 451 kg per hectare lint was collected by farmers.

Agriculture Information Officer Gurtej Singh said a focused approach with complete attention towards achieving the goal of making the farmers aware of every minute details about cotton crop helped in increasing the per hectare yield.

He said all 292 villages of the district were divided in separate clusters with the help of 40 different teams, each headed by Agriculture Development Officers, which organised one awareness camp in a month.

“We ask farmers to adopt a pro-active approach and made them aware of the coming diseases in advance so that they prepare a combat operation well in time,” he said.

He said the cotton growers in Bathinda were regularly made aware of the advantages of the PAU recommended seeds and proper irrigation techniques.

Farmers are made aware of the judicious use of natural medicinal usage to avoid insects and pests which play a spoilsport for the proper growth of the cotton plant, he said.