Pest attack: Farmers plough cotton crop in Bathinda, Mansa

Sukhmeet Bhasin

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 23

Cotton crop is under attack by pink bollworm in the southern Malwa region of Mansa and Bathinda.

Farmers of Shekhu, Mirzeana, Jajjal, Natheha, Phulokhari and Malkana villages in Bathinda have ploughed their standing cotton crop after failing to control the pink bollworm attack. Around 42 acres of cotton crop have been ploughed in the past three days in Bathinda district. In Mansa, farmers in Bhamme Khurd village have uprooted their damaged cotton crop.

Notably, cotton is sown in an area of over 3 lakh hectares in the state whereas it is sown in an area of one lakh hectares in Bathinda alone.

Farmers of Ramsara village on Wednesday uprooted 27 acres of cotton crop. Farmer Jaskaran Singh of Ramsara ploughed his 10-acre crop destroyed by pink bollworm while Pargat Singh of the same village ploughed 5 acres. Farmer Ajmer Singh was forced to plough his cotton crop in 12-acre land with a tractor.

BKU Ugrahan block president Malkit Singh Kot Dharmu appealed to farmers to start an indefinite protest outside the office of the Mansa Deputy Commissioner from September 30 to force the government to compensate the farmers for the damaged crop.

Farm leaders from the Kul Hind Kisan Sabha demanded the government must pay a compensation of Rs 60,000 on per acre basis.