Cotton yield to remain normal in Punjab this season: PAU VC

Despite a huge drop in acreage in the wake of a whitefly attack last year, the cotton yield is expected to remain normal during the current season in Punjab.
"Seeing the present growth of the (cotton) crop, we expect a normal yield," Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Vice Chancellor BS Dhillon said here today.
Due to the fear of another whitefly attack, the area of cotton cultivation in the state saw one of the biggest declines in the current season as the area under the Kharif crop shrunk to 2.56 lakh hectares as against 3.39 lakh hectares last season.
Dhillon, who is also the head of the Inter-state Monitoring Committee on Whitefly, said PAU scientists and the state Agriculture Department were making all-out efforts to control the pest.

"We expect to manage the whitefly incidence," he said, adding that it was a "matter of concern" in Khuian Sarwar block of Fazilka district.
"According to a comparative study of whitefly attack in 2015 and 2016, it is less this year," said Dhillon.

"PAU has been focussing on clean cultivation, good quality
seed, timely sowing, proper monitoring and timely remedial action, quality control of pesticides and creating awareness about identification of severity of the incidence and management methods," said Dhillon, adding that the university has deployed faculty members and students for monitoring and management of the menace.
Besides, training camps for farmers were organised by it in addition to bringing out a crop calendar and a literature on cotton, he said.

The university has also imparted training to pesticide dealers and held several radio and TV talk shows on pest management in cotton, he added.
Referring to ploughing up of cotton fields by some farmers, Dhillon attributed it to various factors such as fear among them due to last year's pest attack, early appearance of whitefly, new tubewell connections, poor crop stand due to hailstorms etc.
Talking about the status of insecticides, he said the recommendations made by PAU were responsible for killing 70-90 per cent of whiteflies whereas, other recommendations accounted for only about 25-30 per cent.
"PAU has recommended six insecticides for whitefly control," he said.

Dhillon said cotton cultivation in Punjab differed from that in Haryana, adding that a long-term strategy has been chalked out by PAU, Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, and Central Institute for Cotton Research.
Last month, there was a whitefly attack in around 15 villages of Khuian Sarwar block of Abohar in Fazilka district.
The infestation of whitefly was spotted on 4,400 hectares of land, prompting the Agriculture Department to ask farmers to spray chemicals on the crop.
The pest attack had caused widespread damage to the Bt cotton variety in Punjab and Haryana last year. In Punjab, 1.36 lakh hectares, out of 4.50 lakh hectares of cotton acreage, was ravaged by the attack and the output had dropped by 40 per cent.