Punjab wants the Centre to approve the next generation Bt cotton variety Bollgard-III amid the pink bollworm (PBW) menace damaging the cotton crop over the past 3-4 years. Efforts are, however, on in the government and private sector to prevent the pest attack through innovative technologies.

Last week Gurvinder Singh, a farmer in Fazilka district of Punjab, destroyed his entire cotton crop planted on 10 acres of land by running tractor over the field after the emergence of PBW pests. He has since planted moong crop in the entire area. He said there is no other alternative now as the land does not have assured irrigation. “I cannot grow maize as I do not have the harvesting machine,” Singh said.

After AI smart traps were installed in 18 locations of Punjab by Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), another technology called CREMIT (Controlled Release Enhanced Mating Interruption Technology) has already been deployed by ATGC Biotech on about 1,000 acres in Sirsa district of Haryana and Fazilka and Bhatinda of Punjab with a target to double the area coverage.

‘Insect family planning’

CREMIT technology enables eco-friendly population control by implementing “Insect Family Planning” as a sustainable alternative to traditional insecticides, thus reducing insecticide usage on the crop and soil, said Baljinder Saini, executive director of Reviving Green Revolution Cell under the project.

He said apart from other management tools, one key component is the mating disruption technology which is recommended by Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) and other institutes. “The technology has a synthetic sex pheromone of the PBW which is applied on the field. The idea is to confuse the male moths so that natural mating does not happen and PBW incidence is reduced. The application of the technology has to be used when flowering starts,” Saini said, adding it ensures better PBW control.

Textile company Sportking India has collaborated with ATGC Biotech, Reviving Green Revolution Cell and Team Athena to launch the initiative, “San-Vardhan” (Cotton You Can Trust) in Punjab and Haryana under which CREMIT technology has been introduced.

“The reduction of cotton output is a big loss to smallholder farmers, ginners, yarn manufacturers, cotton fabrics and the entire value chain. PBW is becoming a costly pest for cotton farmers, threatening their income and livelihood as well as disrupting supply,” said Munish Avasthi, Managing Director, Sportking India.

Pressure piles on Centre

Meanwhile, Punjab’s Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on July 18 met Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Delhi and sought his personal intervention in speeding up approval of the next generation BG-III cotton seeds, in view of continuous pest attacks on the cotton crop.

Khudian told that the current generation BG-II cotton needs to be changed by advanced seeds to make the crop resistant to pest attacks, an official release by Punjab government said.

Cotton acreage in Punjab this year has dropped to 1 lakh hectares (lh) as on July 15 from 2.14 lh year ago. In Rajasthan also it has dipped to 4.75 lh from 7.06 lh and in Haryana to 4.76 lh from 6.65 lh. In largest producing State Gujarat also, there is a drop in acreage to 18.61 lh from 23.76 lh. On the other hand, there is 5 lh more area covered each in Maharashtra and Karnataka from the year-ago levels.