Cotton growers should be extra cautious as the prevalent weather was conducive for pest attack on the crop which was bearing fruit these days, said Muhammad Islam Gill, director central cotton research institute (CCRI).
Recipient of the coveted presidential award Tamgha-e- Imtiaz for his agricultural research work, Islam Gill told a team of farmers here Wednesday that September was the peak fruiting period for cotton crop, when the crop and the fruit were both vulnerable to sucking insects as well as bollworms.
Farmers should protect the crop from these inimical pests to get better and bigger harvest, he advised.
He warned of increased attacks of the Army bollworm, the American bollworm, spotted bollworm and pink bollworm. The latter was notorious for its hidden destructive activity, he added.
Director CCRI said that Army bollworm appeared in patches so the growers must pluck the affected leaves and bury them under the soil. He asked the farmers to spray the crop in consultation with the Agriculture Department officials when insect attack reached the economic threshold level (ETL). If the attack was massive, two consecutive sprays at seven-day interval should be done to break the lifecycle of the insect.
He advised twice weekly spray to be done when the pest population reached the economic threshold level.
Comments
Comments are closed.