Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh, August 2-
Adopting a grassroot strategy to assess the pest infestation on the cotton crop, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Friday made a whirlwind tour to some villages in Mansa district to personally evaluate the condition of the cotton fields.
Khudian, who was accompanied by AAP, Punjab’s working President and Budhlada MLA Principal Budh Ram, MLA Sardulgarh Gurpreet Singh Banawali and senior officials of the department, inspected the cotton fields at villages including Ramnagar Bhathal, Jhunir and Khiali Chehlan Wali. He said that the Agriculture department’s teams have recently surveyed 198 spots in Mansa district and no hotspot of pink bollworm has been observed till now. Only three spots were found above Economic Threshold Level (ETL) for whitefly damage.
He further informed that as many as 128 pest surveillance teams were formed under the supervision of two Joint Director-level officers for regular monitoring of the cotton crop to avert insect attack.
Khudian further said that 274 fields were surveyed in Bathinda district by 52 teams. Pest surveillance was done at 126 fields in Fazilka district, while, 27 surveillance teams have carried out surveillance in 163 plots in Sri Muktsar Sahib district and 13 teams have carried out surveillance in 198 fields in Mansa district.
