Punjab’s agriculture department on Friday informed the Chief Minister that merely 18.1 hectares of area out of the total 3.82 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation had been damaged by whitefly.
The report was read out to CM Amarinder Singh during a meeting organised on Friday to take stock of situation after whitefly attack on cotton, said a government statement.
The report stated that in Bathinda, the affected area was a mere 3.6 hectares out of the total 1,40,000 hectares, 10.2 hectares out of 86,010 hectares in Mansa, and 1.6 hectares out of 64,608 in Sri Muktsar Sahib. In Fazilka, damage due to whitefly was just 2 per cent out of total 74,655 hectares and 0.7 per cent of the 5460 hectares in Barnala. No loss was reported due to whitefly infestation in Sangrur, Faridkot and Moga.
The CM has asked the Agriculture Department to adopt plots with cotton crops damaged by whitefly in every village of the four districts of Mansa, Bathinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Fazilka, which collectively account for the highest production of cotton in the state. He directed the department to use these plots as demonstration farms to educate farmers about Integrated Pest Management, said a statement.
