The "Mealy Bug" has attacked chilli crop in Sindh areas with farmers being helpless to save them, warned on Friday Agri-Forum Pakistan Chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Mughal.
He said the province produced 90 percent of the chili production in the country. The Punjab produced eight percent, Balochistan two percent and the North West Frontier Province one percent.
"The total annual production is 100,000 tonnes on average per annum," he said. "This year areas like Khadar Rahoo, Badin, Tando Bago, Tando Ghulam Ali, Tando Jan Muhammad, Naukot and others are facing severe attack of mealy bug on chili crop."
He said farmers were helpless to control this attack and they were lacking any sort of technical guidance from the Agriculture Department. He claimed different pesticides had also failed to eliminate the bug cause severe financial loss to farmers.Ibrahim warned that if the province failed to control the attack it could cause a shortage of chili.