Farmers in Punjab are left with no choice than to grow
Kharif crops this season due to the scare of white fly attack on cotton crops
.The area under cotton cultivation in Bathinda has decreased comparatively from
last year as farmers prefer Desi cotton to the BT cotton. As of last years
extensive damage done to cotton crops by the white fly the government has asked
the farmers to grow more paddy , growth of which is expected to go up by more
than one lakh hectares from 29.75 lakh hectares as said by a senior official of Punjab Agriculture
Department.
Earlier, Punjab had set a target of 28.50 lakh hectares of
paddy. "The main reason behind rise in paddy will be the drop
in acreage under cotton crop as farmers will divert that area towards
rice," he further said.
Though the recent rain showers in Bathinda and Mansa
districts have bought great relief to the farmers’ agony. Rain showers will not
only lessen the whitefly attack but might end it entirely. The adverse
condition of Khushwinder Singh of village Bhainibagha (Mansa) uprooted his
cotton crop following the alleged whitefly attack as claimed by BKU Ugrahan
leader Ram Singh Bhenibagha.
However, the agriculture department claimed that the matter
has not come to their notice, and added that in the entire district, the
whitefly attack which should be 6ET level is considerably low marking only 2ET
level which is highly alarming for both the farmers and the Government.
After fortnightly discussions between the consultative and
monitoring committees formed by the Chief Secretary on field visits, research
work, exploring and sharing techniques regarding the control of pest attacks
along with making the farmers aware about barrier crops in order to save cotton
from whitefly attacks have been the top priority of the Punjab government.
On June 4 Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal formed an
interstate panel comprising of 10 members from the neighboring states of
Haryana and Rajasthan to evaluate the pest attack and take the required
measures.
Strong recommendations and amendments are being made by the
Government in order to provide some relief to the farmers. Different kinds of
seeds are recommended by the PAU and experts from the universities are asked to
launch a concerted drive in the specific areas of Bathinda and Mansa so that
the spread of white fly could be averted. Along with this, a persuasion campaign has
been started amongst farmers to sow barrier crops, namely, maize, jowar and
bajra to prevent the pest attack.In the wake of depleting underground water
table, Punjab government had asked growers to start sowing paddy from June 15.
Meanwhile, power utility PSPCL said assured proper power
supply to farmers. "We have sufficient power with us to ensure 8-hour
supply to farmers starting tomorrow," a Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd
official said.
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