Cotton crop in region under stress as pink bollworm strikes for third time

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, June 29

Cotton farmers are again facing the double whammy of pink bollworm and extreme heatwave conditions, resulting in a significant loss in the cotton belt of Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind and Bhiwani districts.

As per Agriculture Department officials and farm scientists from Chaudhary Charan Singh Agriculture University, the crop is facing severe strain this kharif season as well — for the third consecutive season.

30% decline in crop area

Cotton farmers have been suffering crop losses for the last two consecutive years due to the attack of pink bollworm, whitefly and adverse weather conditions. As a result, the area under cotton has declined by nearly 30% in the state this year. Agriculture Department data reveals that cotton area has come down to about 11 lakh acres from 16 lakh acres last year

Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and adjoining districts comprise of about 70% of the total cotton area of the state. Besides pink bollworm, intense heatwave also burnt the plants, causing a damage of about 30-40%, said scientists.

Dalbir Singh, a farmer of Dukda village in Nathusari Chopta block of Sirsa district, recently destroyed his entire crop in over an acre after he noticed pink bollworm in the plants.

Dilawar Singh, another farmer, said pink bollworm was visible in the plants. “The scientists have advised us to use a spray, but we feel it is too early for this,” he said.

An official of the Agriculture Department in Sirsa district admitted that there had been reports of pink bollworm. Plants are at a flowering stage, which is when the bollworm surfaces, he said, adding that department officials and the team of the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), Sirsa, had visited the fields and advised the farmers to destroy the sticks of previous year’s cotton plants that often carry forward the bollworm. “Farmers ignored the advisory, resulting in the resurfacing of the bollworm,” he stated.

An HAU scientist, who was part of the team that inspected fields, said there were reports of pink bollworm in areas bordering Rajasthan. “Last year, Rajasthan witnessed higher losses due to the pink bollworm attack in cotton. It is surfacing in the bordering belt at the initial stage and could further move inside Haryana,” he said.

Dr Karmal Singh, another scientist, admitted that prolonged heatwave had caused some damage to the plants. “There are about 6,000-8,000 plants per acre. But this year, the plants per acre have reduced to 4,000 per acre,” he said.