Pink bollworm attacks cotton crop in Haryana, 30-40 percent crop destroyed

Pink Bollworm Attack on Cotton: The problems of cotton producing farmers of Haryana are not reducing. After facing the scorching heat, the cotton crop is now surrounded by pink bollworm. Due to this, the farmers of Haryana's cotton producing districts Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Jind and Bhiwani are facing huge losses. Agriculture department officials said that farmers are facing huge losses in the crop in the Kharif season.

This is the third consecutive year of crop damage due to pink bollworm and extreme heat. Cotton is cultivated in about 70% of Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and nearby areas. Along with this, 30 to 40% damage has been seen in the cotton crop due to extreme heat.

Dalbir Singh, a farmer of Nathsuri Chopta block of Sirsa, said that the cotton crops are facing the attack of pink caterpillar. He said that his one acre cotton crop has been completely destroyed.

Advice from agricultural officials

When a farmer talked to agriculture officials about pink caterpillar, they advised him to use spray. The farmer said that it is too early to spray the cotton crop. The agriculture officer of Sirsa district said that he has received reports of pink caterpillar. He said that the plants are in the flowering stage when the caterpillar comes to the surface. The team of Sirsa Agricultural Research Center has visited many fields and advised the farmers to destroy the wood of old cotton plants.

have to suffer loss

Agriculture officials said that ignoring the advice given to farmers is proving to be costly. This is the reason why pink caterpillar has come to the surface. Agriculture officials said that reports of caterpillar have been received in the areas bordering Rajasthan. Rajasthan had suffered heavy losses last year due to the pink caterpillar infestation. 

This is the reason why caterpillar has come to the surface in the border areas of Rajasthan in the initial stage and is spreading in many areas of Haryana bordering Rajasthan.

Agriculture officer Dr Kamal Singh said that the heat wave has been going on for a long time. Due to which there has been a huge loss in cotton plants. He said that usually there are about 6000 to 8000 plants per acre. But this year due to the damage caused by the heat, their number has come down to 4000 per acre.