Compared with cotton production last year when it was severely damaged by the mealy bug attack, a healthier cotton crop sown over 5,800,000 acres in Punjab is growing robust and healthy, claims Agriculture Department, Punjab. Cotton output is expected to be better this year, according to agri field officers but the overall crop picture is not as rosy and promising as claimed by the Department.
Data gathered by the Directorate of Pest Warning from various cotton growing districts shows that spots of mealy bug have been observed over 49.78 per cent of the crop this week as compared to 48.50 percent traces of the pest observed last week, which obviously indicates that the bug is more widespread.
The directorate's report on the current cotton crop shows traces of mealy bug on 83.33 percent of the total area under cotton cultivation compared with 57.93 percent last year. The cotton crop area severely affected this year, however, is only 0.90 percent compared to 3.31 percent of the total crop area destroyed by the mealy bug last year.
Mealy bug attack is measured by the yardstick of (a traces b) (patches c) severely affected areas. Another healthy indicator of the current cotton crop is that only 15.76 per cent of the total acreage has 'patches' this year, compared to last year's 38.74 per cent, which may mean the crop had been partly affected or damaged.
According to the report, "A rising success in the bug's incursion on cotton crop as compared to past week and past year is due to its high rate of fecundity, adaptability of its population against high and very low temperature, short life cycle, protective layer on its body, and a high range of alternate hosts.
However, the overall intensity of infestation of the pest as compared to past year is low." Cotton experts feel the data indicates a healthier crop this year. However, they fear that the latent mealy bug can re-activate and multiply itself in the dry weather conditions in coming months.
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