To protect this year’s cotton crop against damage from white flies which caused huge losses to farmers last year, the Centre has issued directives to cotton producing states such as Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to take precautionary measures.
Instructions on the timeframe within which the sowing process should be carried out, the seeds and pesticides to be used and the vigil to be kept on the movement of pests, have been given by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to the states, according to an official release.
“To save all states from this likely menace of white fly, the Agriculture Ministry has taken various preventive measures. Elaborate assessment and analysis has been carried out related to the loss inflicted during the last year,” the release said.
The Central Cotton Research Regional Centre, Sirsa (Haryana) has conducted a meeting with Ministry officials, scientists from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and senior officials from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan participated. The participants
The Council of Agricultural Research also has provided a list of the seeds which resist the pests.