Adilabad: Pink bollworm back to attacking cotton

ADILABAD: Pink bollworm has resurfaced much earlier this year and has started affecting the cotton plants in this Kharif season in old Adilabad. The pink bollworm damages the cotton balls over a period of time. The pink bollworm was found in the agricultural fields in Ponnari village in Tamsi mandal in Adilabad district.

It is said that the pink bollworm is currently in the beginning of its second stage and is of a light pink colour.

The cotton crop was cultivated in eight lakh acres in the old Adilabad district and in three lakhs acres in the new Adilabad district.

Agricultural scientists say that the impact of the pink bollworm could be reduced by cultivating redgram as an intercrop in the cotton fields. It is high time cotton farmers take up preventive measures to prevent the pink bollworm from spreading to neighbouring fields.

The agriculture department should create awareness among the cotton farmers about measures that need to be taken to control the pink bollworm from spreading to neighbouring fields. With the pink bollworm attack, cotton plants will start withering.

Farmers of Ponnari said that the pink bollworm will cause huge damage to cotton crops if the agricultural scientists do not prevent it in time from spreading.

There were many incidents in old Adilabad district where cotton farmers burnt their pink bollworm affected cotton crop to stop its effects from spreading further. The pink bollworm also causes loss in terms of low yield to farmers. Worse, the pink bollworm does not die and survives even in unfavourable weather conditions.

Cotton cultivation is high in the Adilabad district and most of the farmers cultivate cotton in the kharif as it is a rainfed crop and very few farmers have irrigation facility to water their standing cotton crops.

There are a total of 18 mandals in the Adilabad district and cotton cultivation is spread across all these mandals. Most of the tribal farmers cultivate cotton in the Adilabad district.