Ludhiana, July 16: After the mealy bug attack, Bt cotton, which was introduced to save the crop from American Ballworm, has lost its charm in Punjab.

Though in terms of acreage, the damage may not be higher, but the concentration of the attack has made the experts of both Punjab Agricultural University and state Department of Agriculture sit up.

B S Sidhu, Director, Agriculture, says, “We are concerned as the attack is severe than last year. While it may not have affected a large number of farmers, the damage levels are very high.”

As per the data collected by the State Department of Agriculture from Talwandi Sabo block in Bathinda, Abohar in Ferozepur, Lambi and Gidderbaha are the worst-affected areas. Dr N S Butter, head of the Department of Entomology, PAU, says, “Prior to the introduction of BT cotton, we used to spray the crop with chemicals which killed these pests. Now as the pest umbrella has been lifted because Bt cotton does not need so many sprays, these pests are becoming dormant.”

Mealy bug, as per PAU experts, thrives on weeds and the simplest way of keeping them away is to clear the wastelands. However, with the present attack in the state, controlling the weeds has become difficult task, as the bug will shift to other crops.

Sidhu says, “We are advising farmers to use two-prong strategy— kill the congress grass and at the same time use chemical sprays for mealy bugs.”

Dr Butter adds, “The problem that we are facing is that pesticide dealers are misleading the farmers and selling them chemicals which have little effect on the bug. We have formed two teams that are regularly working in eight districts of the cotton belt. We are trying to the spots of attack sites and advising the farmers how to save their crops.”

When asked why PAU didn’t think of this attack when it was rooting for Bt cotton as a panacea for Punjab farmers’ problems, Dr Butter says, “At that time there was no mealy bug, and we were dealing with just American Ballworm. With chemicals, we will be able to control this bug too.”