Chandigarh : Contrary to the agriculture department’s claims of having controlled pink bollworm attacks, cotton growers in Fazilka suffered losses due to the pest infestation last month. Many even decided to uproot their crop.
The farmers are now hoping to get compensation from the state government. Cotton was sown on 93,000 hectares in Fazilka. The agriculture department estimates 50% to 75% damage in 20,000 hectares, 75% to 100% loss in 100 hectares, and below 25% in rest of the category.
“This is the third year in a row that our cotton crop has been hit by pests.
We are waiting for the state government to announce compensation for the farmers as many had to clear the fields,” said Karan Partap, a farmer from Bandiwala village in Fazilka.
Fazilka chief agriculture officer Gurmeet Singh Cheema said besides the pink bollworm attack, untimely showers had also adversely affected the cotton crop.
The total area under cotton this time shrunk to 1.73 lakh hectares – down from 2.48 lakh hectares in 2022 — against the state’s target of 3 lakh hectares. A major factor was the disillusionment of farmers due to back-to-back attacks by white fly and pink bollworm over successive seasons. Many opted for paddy cultivation.
Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar said that pink bollworm had damaged cotton crop in areas of Abohar and many of the farmers had no option but to plough back their fields.
Pink bollworm first appeared in Punjab in 2020 in around 100 acres at Bathinda’s Jodhpur Romana area and severely hit other districts in the following year. In 2022, both whitefly and pink bollworm had ravaged the cotton crop in the state. In 2021 the state government had released Rs 416 crore to compensate cotton growers for their crop loss due to pink bollworm attack that had caused extensive damage in Mansa, Sangrur, Bathinda, Muktsar Sahib and Barnala districts.
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