Take steps to check pink bollworm attack on cotton crop: CM Bhagwant Mann

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday directed the agriculture department to take preventive measures for checking the spread of pink bollworm in the cotton belt of the state

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday directed the agriculture department to take preventive measures for checking the spread of pink bollworm in the cotton belt of the state.

The need of the hour is to ensure that pink bollworm attack doesn’t spread in the areas of cotton cultivation for which no stone would be left unturned, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said. (HT File Photo)

Incidents of pink bollworm have started surfacing from the cotton fields of Mansa and Bathinda districts. Pink bollworm is monophagous or feeds only on cotton plants. It affects a plant at the flowering stage. It is now resistant to first-generation transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard cotton). Bollworm infestation can be easily identified with pheromone traps in fields that catch male insects.

The CM asked the department to station its teams in the cotton belt to ensure that the attack was checked at the initial stage. “The need of the hour is to ensure that pink bollworm attack doesn’t spread in the areas of cotton cultivation for which no stone would be left unturned,” he said.

The CM said the state department was duty-bound to ensure that no loss is incurred to the farmers for which the attack should be averted by all means. He asked the teams to visit the Malwa region and assess the magnanimity of the attack and take the necessary course of action.

Meanwhile, the principal entomologist of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Vijay Kumar said: “Bollworm will impact only those fields from where last year’s residue was not cleared. Delay in canal irrigation support delayed sowing and bollworm have not affected the late sown crop.”