DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab Agriculture department has formed 128 pest surveillance teams for regular monitoring of cotton crop to avert insects' attack, said state agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian on Monday.

The teams have been constituted in the cotton-growing districts, including Sri Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka, Faridkot, Moga, Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala and Sangrur, according to an official release. Khuddian said these teams have been tasked to visit cotton fields and guide farmers to take pest control measures, whenever required.

On Monday, several teams inspected cotton fields of 73 villages in Fazilka district and found three active spots of pink bollworm and eight active spots of whitefly in Khuian Sarwar block. The officials concerned were directed to ensure application of the recommended pesticides in their presence. "To spread the message at the grassroots level, the agriculture department has also organised farmers' awareness camps in 989 villages in the major cotton districts to sensitize the farmers regarding practices for cotton cultivation and effective management against various cotton insects or pests and other diseases," the minister added.

Urging farmers to follow the advice of experts and use recommended pesticides, Khuddian said the agriculture department is pulling out all the stops to ensure the welfare of the state farmers.

As many as 6,000 demonstrations of cotton crop covering an area of 60,000 hectares have been carried out in cotton-growing districts under the crop diversification plan during the kharif season this year, the minister said, adding that the farmers will also be provided incentives for inputs according to the norms.

Director Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Jaswant Singh also informed that the department's officials visited cotton fields of farmers.

Chief Agriculture Officer, Mansa, said that a team visited the cotton field at village Sahnewali where a minor pink bollworm attack was found and the farmers were advised pesticides.
(editor@dailyworld.in)