Punjab: Rain in cotton belt brings relief from whitefly attack

Punjab on Friday received 21.6 mm rainfall and the rain belt districts of Fazilka, Bathinda, Muktsar and Mansa received 38.5 mm, 19.3mm, 80.8 mm and 8.6 mm rainfall respectively. Faridkot, which grows very little cotton, received 99.6mm rainfall.

Director of agriculture department Gurvinder Singh said, “There was a whitefly attack because of the hot and dry weather. Rainfall has come as a relief and has lessened the attack. Owing to the rain, adult flies are unable to fly and will eventually die.”

Singh added that not more than 50 acres have been ploughed so far and that too by those farmers who had started a nursery of cotton seedlings. They had ploughed due to excessive attack of whitefly. “Random sampling of pesticides and fertilisers was also being done and so far nine samples were taken from Bathinda,” he said.