Punjab CM asks agriculture dept to adopt whitefly-infested cotton farms for education of farmers
• 1000 demonstration farms to be adopted in four districts, dept also ordered to crack down against supply of spurious pesticides Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh 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 (IPM), an official spokesperson disclosed after a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, to take stock of the situation arising out of the whitefly infestation. The Chief Minister directed that the demonstration farms be used to educate the cotton growers about the latest technology for the protection of their crop from pests and insects, particularly whitefly. A total of 1000 such demonstration farms would be adopted by the agriculture department, said the spokesperson, adding that scouts and field staff, in consultation with agriculture development officers and agriculture officers, would impart basic training for use of recommended pesticides and insecticides, besides proper application of chemical fertilizers and manures, at these demo centres. These centres would go a long way in restoring the confidence of farmers affected by whitefly. Deputy Commissioners and Chief Agriculture Officers from seven districts, viz Mansa, Bathinda, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Sangrur, Barnala and Faridkot in Malwa region, participated in the meeting, convened by the Chief Minister to follow up on his last week’s visit to Mansa region. The meeting was informed that merely 18.1 hectares of area out of the total 3.82 lac hectares under cotton cultivation had been damaged by whitefly. 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% out of total 74,655 hectares and 0.7% out of 5460 hectares in Barnala. No loss was reported due to whitefly infestation in Sangrur, Faridkot and Moga. The Chief Minister made it clear at the meeting that no laxity would be tolerated on the issue of sale of spurious or substandard pesticides to the farmers. He directed the officials to crack down on suppliers of such pesticides and ensure exemplary punishment to them. The Chief Minister asked the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Vice Chancellor Dr. B.S. Dhillon and Director Agriculture Jasbir Singh Bains to launch a joint awareness campaign to educate the farmers about recommended varieties of hybrids to be sown and use of quality pesticides. The Chief Minister also directed the Principal Secretary Irrigation to ensure uninterrupted and adequate canal water supply at the tail ends to ensure sufficient water supply for the cotton crop. Captain Amarinder also directed PAU and Agriculture Department to intensify round-the-clock surveillance and regular monitoring on the ground to check any pest attack. Scouting should be arranged at village level, with the scouts and supervisors to be made accountable for any lapses in educating the farmers on crop protection and weed eradication. The Chief Minister further directed the Irrigation Department not to close any canals, minors or distributaries for de-silting and cleaning without consulting the Agriculture Department. The best time for such cleaning was after the harvesting of wheat and before sowing of paddy so that the farmers were not put to inconvenience during the crop season. He asked the Principal Secretary Irrigation to immediately get the canals and water distributaries de-silted and clean for restoration of water supply to the cotton growers. Meanwhile, Vice-Chancellor PAU informed the Chief Minister that the crop condition had improving in the last 3-4 days due to effective management and slightly favourable weather. He further told the meeting that PAU and the Agriculture Department had prepared a Join Action Plan for the protection of cotton crop till their maturity, encompassing refresher training and motivation of field staff and scouts. They will also take over some of the affected fields and demonstrate Crop Management Practices to farmers. The Agriculture Commissioner underlined the need to differentiate between crops affected by pests or use of poor quality seeds and those suffering from stunted growth as a result of mismanagement and input factors. He apprised the Chief Minister that despite increase in whitefly population in the last couple of weeks, it had been successfully managed through spray of recommended pesticides as well as light rain in some areas. Release of canal water in the area had also helped reduce the moisture stress, he said, adding that there was no need to panic on account of the whitefly. The meeting was informed that cotton was the second major Kharif crop of the state after paddy. During Kharif-2016, the area under cotton was 2.85 lakh hectare and the production was 12.57 lakh bales, with an average yield of about 22.23 quintal per hectare (756 kg lint per hectare). For Kharif-2017, an Action Plan for cotton production was prepared wherein an area of 4 lakh hectares was targeted. The estimated area under cotton during this season is about 3.82 lakh hectare. The district wise break-up of area (in hectares) under cotton is; Mansa (86,010), Bathinda (1,40,000), Sri Muktsar Sahib (64,608), Fazilka (74,655), Sangrur (9,215), Barnala (5,460), Faridkot (1,813) and others (210). He said out of 3.82 lakh hectares, about 2.76 lakh hectares have been sown in time i.e. up to May 15 and about 1.06 lakh hectares are late sown. Prominent amongst those present in the meeting were Media Advisor to Chief Minister Raveen Thukral, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Tejveer Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Development) MP Singh, Special Secretary Agriculture Vikas Garg, Commissioner Agriculture Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Director Agriculture Jasvir Singh, Deputy Commissioner Mansa Dharampal Aggarwal, Bathinda Diprava Lakra, Sri Muktsar Sahib Sumit Jarangal, Fazilka Isha Kalia, Barnala Ghanshyam Thori, Faridkot Rajiv Prashar and Sangrur APS Virk. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Sunil Jakhar attended as a special invitee. —PTC News
