July 10, 2007 - 1 comments
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Ludhiana : Pest infestation has led to major crop destruction in Punjab, causing immense loss to the farmers.
Infestation by Mealy bug, a white fuzzy insect that sucks plant juice, has led to major damage of cotton crop in Punjab’s Muktsar District.
Farmers have tried various insecticides and pesticides but to no avail.
"We sowed cotton in eight bigha (nearly 13 acres) of our land. We applied all the sprays and other techniques told to us by horticulture department, but still the Mealy bug has attacked our crops," said Gurpreet Singh, a farmer.
The farmers now want the State Government to do some damage control and compensate them for their losses.
"I had sown cotton in four acres of land. We have applied all the pesticides, but to no avail. Our 50 percent crop has been totally destroyed. We want government to give us compensation," said Markaur Singh, another farmer.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department has conducted a survey of the damaged fields and suggested measures for prevention of further damage.
Baldev Singh Sadhu, Agriculture Officer at Muktsar, said: "At least 2,374 acres of cotton crop is damaged by the Mealy bug. Out of this, 174 acre was almost wasted crop that farmers rooted out."
Farmers have lost around seventy percent of the produce due to infestation. They are now ploughing their fields to root out the infested crop and prepare the field for some other crop. (ANI)
