Whitefly has returned to haunt Punjab farmers. Preliminary reports of a survey show that at least 1.30 lakh hectares of the 4.50 lakh hectares cotton crop in the state have been attacked so far this year.
The survey, undertaken by the Revenue Department in collaboration with the Agriculture Department, was carried out on the orders of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
A Deputy Director (Agriculture), requesting anonymity, said cotton crop in approximately 25 per cent of the total area had been affected significantly. Sources in the Revenue Department said until Monday, out of approximately 11,800 acres area ploughed back by farmers, at least 5,200 acres fell in Muktsar, 550 in Mansa, 3,700 in Fazilka, 400 in Faridkot and 2,100 acres in Bathinda. The crop in Barnala, too, has been affected.
A senior officer at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) said despite “girdawari” and compensation, affected farmers would not be able to cope with the total loss. “From the time of sowing to a little before harvesting, a farmer invests not less than Rs 20,000 per hectare. The compensation he gets is not more than Rs 5,000 per hectare, which is just the cost of sowing,” he said.
The Congress blames poor quality pesticides for the loss. Former party MLA Sukhpal Khaira said: “The PAU had recommended good quality pesticides — Spiromesifen, Polo and Trisophas (Markfed) — which were available for less than Rs 3,000 per litre. But, farmers were forced to buy a substandard option at a higher cost of Rs 3,550 per litre because of the direct interference of the Agriculture Director.”
Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar had recently said that whiteflies, which attack Bt Cotton, had become resistant to pesticides. “Even if we throw whiteflies in a container of pesticide, they start swimming in it,” he had said. The CM had recently announced a compensation of Rs 10 crore for the affected farmers after directing the state police department to collect 208 samples of substandard pesticides from dealers in the Malwa belt.
After a tardy lifting of wheat followed by an abysmally poor response to potato crop, farmers are on the verge of a collapse with a failed cotton crop. Ram Singh Bhenibagha, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugraha), Mansa, said: “The compensation amount hardly meets the input costs of a farmer and leaves no scope for an easy bounce back.”
Majority of a dozen farmers who committed suicide this year were those who had taken land on contract. Baljinder Singh of Musa village had consumed pesticide. He had sown cotton on his 2.5 acres besides three acres he had taken on contract. Surat Singh, 45, of Achanak village committed suicide after a complete crop loss due to whitefly attack in two acres of his land besides a huge tract of 15 acres he had taken on contract.
Leading agro economist Prof SS Johl said: “Whiteflies multiply very quickly. Farmers need to react to the very first sight of a blot on leaves.”
Kheti Virasat Mission’s Umendra Dutt blamed the PAU and the Agriculture Department for recommending similar pesticides to farmers year after year even when it was scientifically proven that pests had developed resistance to the ones used for a long time.
The survey, undertaken by the Revenue Department in collaboration with the Agriculture Department, was carried out on the orders of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
A Deputy Director (Agriculture), requesting anonymity, said cotton crop in approximately 25 per cent of the total area had been affected significantly. Sources in the Revenue Department said until Monday, out of approximately 11,800 acres area ploughed back by farmers, at least 5,200 acres fell in Muktsar, 550 in Mansa, 3,700 in Fazilka, 400 in Faridkot and 2,100 acres in Bathinda. The crop in Barnala, too, has been affected.
A senior officer at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) said despite “girdawari” and compensation, affected farmers would not be able to cope with the total loss. “From the time of sowing to a little before harvesting, a farmer invests not less than Rs 20,000 per hectare. The compensation he gets is not more than Rs 5,000 per hectare, which is just the cost of sowing,” he said.
The Congress blames poor quality pesticides for the loss. Former party MLA Sukhpal Khaira said: “The PAU had recommended good quality pesticides — Spiromesifen, Polo and Trisophas (Markfed) — which were available for less than Rs 3,000 per litre. But, farmers were forced to buy a substandard option at a higher cost of Rs 3,550 per litre because of the direct interference of the Agriculture Director.”
Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Jakhar had recently said that whiteflies, which attack Bt Cotton, had become resistant to pesticides. “Even if we throw whiteflies in a container of pesticide, they start swimming in it,” he had said. The CM had recently announced a compensation of Rs 10 crore for the affected farmers after directing the state police department to collect 208 samples of substandard pesticides from dealers in the Malwa belt.
After a tardy lifting of wheat followed by an abysmally poor response to potato crop, farmers are on the verge of a collapse with a failed cotton crop. Ram Singh Bhenibagha, president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugraha), Mansa, said: “The compensation amount hardly meets the input costs of a farmer and leaves no scope for an easy bounce back.”
Majority of a dozen farmers who committed suicide this year were those who had taken land on contract. Baljinder Singh of Musa village had consumed pesticide. He had sown cotton on his 2.5 acres besides three acres he had taken on contract. Surat Singh, 45, of Achanak village committed suicide after a complete crop loss due to whitefly attack in two acres of his land besides a huge tract of 15 acres he had taken on contract.
Leading agro economist Prof SS Johl said: “Whiteflies multiply very quickly. Farmers need to react to the very first sight of a blot on leaves.”
Kheti Virasat Mission’s Umendra Dutt blamed the PAU and the Agriculture Department for recommending similar pesticides to farmers year after year even when it was scientifically proven that pests had developed resistance to the ones used for a long time.
