Whitefly eats up cotton crop in 58 Fazilka villages

Our Correspondent

Fazilka, July 12

Notwithstanding the tall claims of the state government to check the whitefly attack on cotton, the pest has attacked standing cotton crop on hundreds of acres in 58 villages of Fazilka district.

Whitefly is again spreading its tentacles in Fazilka district. It had played havoc on the cotton crop last year too.

Official sources said the standing crop on 482 acres had been affected due to whitefly in the district.

“Although the attack is gradually increasing due to humid weather, the situation is not at all alarming and is under control,” claimed Chief Agriculture Officer, Fazilka, Sukhdev Singh Brar.

“Standing crop on only two to 10 acres has been affected in one village,” added Brar. He advised the farmers to begin chemical sprays to check the attack.

Two days after the visit of Additional Chief Secretary Nirmaljit Singh Kalsi to the affected areas, Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Isha Kalia held a meeting of the officials concerned to review the situation.

She has directed the Agriculture Department and other officials concerned to take necessary steps to curb the attack at any cost.

Passing on strict instructions, she has directed the officials to inspect every cotton field. She announced to reintroduce the campaign to destroy the weed in the district under the the MGNREGA scheme to remove the weed from common places in the villages.