Ministry Gears Up To Tackle Virus In Cotton

The agriculture ministry has instituted a plan of action to tackle a pest attack on the cotton crop in northern states, senior government officials said yesterday.

We have chalked out an effective action plan to tackle the leaf curl virus affecting cotton, Mangala Rai, deputy director general in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said. It was put into effect four or five days ago.

The leaf curl virus, which affected Pakistans cotton crop badly last year, has threatened the Indian crop in northern states bordering Pakistan.

Under the plan, the ministry has urged the government to give financial support to farmers growing cotton near border areas to buy resistant varieties of seeds which are more expensive than ordinary grades, Rai said. The subsidies will also help farmers in these regions to buy insecticides to control the white flies,he said.

Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan account for about 25 per cent of the countrys cotton production. Trade officials expect cotton production in the 1997/98 (Oct-Sep) season to fall to about 16.5-16.7 million bales from 17.65 million bales in the previous season because of the virus and unseasonal rains. Crop output will be affected but I dont see a sharp fall in production due to the virus as most of the cotton has been harvested, Rai said. But we have to start preparing ourselves for the next season.

The crop has been affected to an extent of a 20km radius from the Pakistan border.

We are trying to prevent any further spread, he said adding the process of controlling the spread was difficult.

A M Narula, senior scientist in the agriculture ministry, said under the action plan ICAR was developing hybrid pest-resistant seeds to be planted in northern states.

The white fly insect carries the virus which is very difficult to manage, Narula said. We are developing two or three resistant varieties of cotton seeds to plant in the northern areas.