Whitefly menace: Bayer comforts farmers with 'Oberon'

Agro-chemical maker Bayer CropScience today claimed its insecticide 'Oberon' was "effective" against whitefly and was "checked" by the Punjab government before recommending it for use in cotton growing areas of the state.
It however said that there was "lack of awareness" among cotton growers about the life cycle of whitefly, which was one of the reasons for poor control of the pest attack.
Punjab government has been under fire from the opposition Congress and farmers for extensive damage to cotton crop by whitefly. The opposition has even blamed the state government for distributing "spurious" insecticides to farmers "without following norms" which failed to control the menace.

Bayer CropScience, a major player in the state in the field of agro-chemicals, has supplied 92,000 litres of 'Oberon' to the state government for controlling whitefly.
"Our product Oberon is effective against whitefly and it is 100 per cent genuine," company's Vice President (North), Satish Narang said here today.
"Of the 2.30 lakh acres that were sprayed with Oberon, majority of the farmers have benefited and are satisfied with the product," he said.

As farmers can see only adult whitefly with their naked eye, they go in for spraying the insecticide at that point, which is actually too late to control the pest. If Oberon is sprayed proactively, it can be used in an efficient manner for the control of whitefly nymphs and eggs, he said.

The total market for pesticides and insecticides for all crop is in the range of Rs 800-900 crore per annum in Punjab. For cotton crop, insecticides of more than Rs 150 crore are used in the state alone.
The total area under cotton cultivation in Punjab is 4.50 lakh hectares, of which whitefly has hit the crop in nearly 1.36 lakh hectares while farmers have uprooted the crop at an estimated area of 11,780 acres in six cotton growing districts because of the damage caused by pest.