Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has constituted a five member team under the chairmanship of S N Sushil, Plant Protection Advisor to visit whitefly affected cotton crops in Fazilka, Mansa & Bhatinda districts of Punjab.
The central team will visit the affected areas within two days and prepare a report which will be submitted to the central government for action, Singh said.
Singh shared this information through the social media. He tweeted:. “I have constituted a team to visit whitefly affected cotton crops in Fazilka, Mansa & Bhatinda districts of Punjab”.
In another tweet he wrote “5 member team under chairmanship of Plant Protection Advisor will visit affected areas within 2 days”. “Team will make an assessment of the problem and submit its report”.
The ministry had earlier asked cotton producing states to take necessary measures to protect their crops from whitefly, which had in 2015 caused widespread damage to cotton plants in Punjab and Haryana.
In Punjab, 1.36 lakh hectares out of total 4.50 lakh hectares of cotton acreage was ravaged by whitefly attack last season and the output had dropped by 40 per cent.
This time the whitefly attack was spotted on cotton crops planted near orchards in Abohar known for Kinnow fruits.
Cotton area in Punjab saw a major decline in current season as crop area under this Kharif crop shrunk to 2.56 lakh hectares as against 4.50 lakh hectares last season.