Punjab's Bhatinda district severely hit by pink bollworm infestation in cotton farms

Pink bollworm infestations have been discovered in Bathinda district’s cotton farms in Punjab. Cotton growing farmers from Bhatinda are concerned about the infestation before the major harvesting season which will next week. The Joint Director from Agriculture Department, Gurvinder Singh said that they are actively supervising the issue. He informed ANI, “We are monitoring the situation closely with block-level officers recommending pesticides to contain worm attacks." 

Singh even claimed that some farmers utilised pesticides and insecticides that were not approved as the actual reason for the outbreak. He further stated that farmers have been given warnings and any form of carelessness will be punished. Singh even assured that no farmers will suffer losses as a result of the infestation and that the problem of the infection outbreak will be handled quickly. 

More about the pink bollworm infestation  

Cotton is grown on a combined amount of 4.8 lakh hectares in the state of Punjab. As per the Millennium Post website, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Mahendragarh, and Jind in Haryana, and Bathinda and Mansa in Punjab, are some of the districts afflicted by the infestation pink bollworm. According to Ashish Mehta, a cotton farmer from Mandi Dabwali in Sirsa, the parasite has ruined around 30 to 40% of the farmers' crops in his region. 

What is a Pink bollworm?  

The pink bollworm is an insect that causes problems in the production of cotton. The mature insects are tiny grey moth with fringed wings that is small and slender. The female moth deposits her eggs in a cotton boll (the rounded seed capsule of plants), and the larvae that hatch cause harm to the plant by eating. They eat the seeds by chewing through the raw cotton. Cotton is harmed in two ways because it is utilised for both fibre and seed oil. Thus, other insects and fungi can enter the boll through the protective fibrous tissue that has been disrupted. 

(Image Credit: ANI)