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AGRICULTURE

COTTON CURSE: PHEROMONE-BASED MATING DISRUPTION TECHNOLOGY MAY HELP CONTROL PINK
BOLLWORM

Experiments show 90% reduction in losses, improved yield

NEXT NEWS ❯

BY HIMANSHU NITNAWARE

PUBLISHED: MONDAY 30 OCTOBER 2023

A farmer shows a cotton fruit damaged by pink bollworm. Photo: Vikas Choudhary /
CSE12jav.net

This is the seventh story in a series about pink bollworm attacks on Bt Cotton
in the North Zone, comprising Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

Farmers across cotton-growing states are struggling to manage the pink bollworm
(PBW) pest that is wreaking havoc, resulting in heavy economic losses. Even the
genetically modified pest-resistant cotton variety, Bt Cotton (Bollgard II
seed), which was created to resist PBW, is no longer effective in keeping them
away.

Ground visits by Down To Earth (DTE) revealed farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan and
Punjab were facing yield losses of 80-90 per cent.

PBW is a worm that damages parts of the developing cotton fruit by laying eggs
on it. The larvae burrow into the rounded sac of seeds called bolls to feed on
the seeds. The pest is concealed inside the green boll and is protected; thus,
spraying of pesticides and insecticides does not affect it after it penetrates
the fruit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read more: Untangling India’s Bt cotton fraud

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YG Prasad, director, ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur told DTE
that scientists are working to identify new genes effective against PBW.

“We have observed 8,000 germplasm accessions in field evaluations to identify
sources of natural resistance that will help fight PBW, but it is likely that a
transgene or gene editing will have to be tried,” Prasad said.

Even after the gene is identified and a seed variety is developed, it would
still take time to undergo various trials, create a public-private partnership
and seek approval from the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation and Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee, he added.

“Effective monitoring and timely adoption of a crop-window-based integrated pest
management (IPM) strategy is the immediate solution,” Prasad suggested as the
immediate solution.

However, a group of scientists is experimenting with a technology that has
proven to be successful in the United States. The technology is called PBKnot or
PB Rope L, said Bhagirath Choudhary, founder-director for South Asia
Biotechnology Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

“The technology helped the US tackle the pest that was affecting farmers for 100
years. The pest was eradicated in 2018 after its implementation in 2008,” he
said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read more: Why are pests developing resistance to Bt cotton in Telangana, Andhra
Pradesh?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

According to Choudhary, PBW annually affects lint quality and lowers yield on
about 12 million hectares of cotton crops worldwide. The Centre has been
experimenting with technology in India since 2022 and has received enormous
success, resulting in a 90 per cent reduction in losses, he said.

The technology received for the IPM strategies for controlling the population of
PBW received approval in India from Central Insecticide Board and Registration
Committee for the first time in 2019-20.

“The technology is being experimented with under Project Bandhan and working
closely with Krishi Vigyan Kendra, agriculture universities and local
institutions. It involves disrupting the mating cycle of the moths,” he said.

The technology involves using a 20-centimetre polyethylene hollow rope that is
impregnated with pheromone gossyplure — a chemical emitted by female moths — to
attract male moth.

In natural temperatures, the rope expands and the narrow holes emit pheromones,
which released in the air, confuse the male moths and prevent them from reaching
the actual female moths, said Choudhary. This, thus, disrupts the mating process
and reproductive cycle. The result is a drop in population and reduced damage to
crops.

“They are installed after the crop is 45 days old and tied to plants around the
border and inside. About 160 such ropes are installed in an acre along the
border of a farm and inside with a gap of 25 square metres. The technology is
successful on large cotton fields with a minimum area of 40-50 acres,” he said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read more: Study points to quality issues in Bt cotton seeds

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A pheromone trap is also installed to monitor the activity of male moths, along
with checking flowering and green bolls. The method successfully helped assist
90 per cent disruption in 1,100 acres of land across 18 locations in India in
2022, he said.

“It also helped increase yield up to 1.5 quintals per acre with improved lint
quality. In 2023, the experiment was being conducted in 710 acres of land in 11
locations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” the scientist
said.

The government of India has to step in to adopt this biotechnology tool and
implement it in all cotton-producing zones in India to make it successful on a
wide scale, Choudhary added.

Read the first part here, the second part, the third part, the fourth part, the
fifth part and the sixth part.

कृषि से जुड़ी सभी खबरें हिंदी में पढ़ें।
Pest Control pink bollworm (… Cotton Bt Cotton Cotton growers Agriculture India
Punjab Haryana Rajasthan
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AGRICULTURE

COTTON CURSE: TIRED OF LOSSES, FARMERS GIVING UP COTTON ON A LARGE SCALE

The production of cotton in Punjab has almost halved in the past decade

NEXT NEWS ❯

BY HIMANSHU NITNAWARE

PUBLISHED: FRIDAY 27 OCTOBER 2023

This year, pink bollworm has destroyed over 90% of the cotton crop in some
areas. Photo: Vikas Choudhary / CSE12jav.net

This is the sixth story in a series about pink bollworm attacks on Bt Cotton in
the North Zone, comprising Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.

Cotton farmers in the northern cotton zone have experienced the worst pink
bollworm attack on their crops in two decades this year; however, pest attacks
on cotton crops have occurred on a regular basis in recent years. Farmers are
being forced to switch to other crops due to continued losses and uncertainty.

Ground visits by Down To Earth (DTE) to Punjab and Haryana have revealed that
many farmers are experimenting with horticulture and paddy as an alternative to
cotton farming. The landscape that once displayed white cotton carpet stretched
for kilometres is now being replaced by paddy and orange plantations.

In Khariya village of Sirsa district in Haryana, Rajesh Nain has experimented
with growing paddy on 1.5 acres of land. “I planted cotton on 20 acres of land
and 90 per cent of it is lost to pink bollworm. The paddy demands more water
than cotton, which means exploiting more groundwater, but if successful, I will
switch to paddy altogether,” he said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read more: Untangling India’s Bt cotton fraud

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paddy cultivation requires less labour and has reduced risks of infestation,
said another farmer, Navin Surendrakumar, from the same village. “Even if the
quality is not optimal, it will sell for a good price,” he explained.

Cotton has a higher minimum support price (MSP), according to Surendrakumar.
“Paddy fetches around Rs 3,200, but it is higher if you sow basmati varieties,”
he said. The MSP for cotton is Rs 6,235 per quintal.

But despite the lower price in the market, the investment cost of pesticides and
labour costs are far less for paddy, he pointed out.

Ranvir Kumar of Maujagarh, Punjab, converted his 20-acre cotton farm into an
orange orchard. The farmer suffered cotton crop losses in 2021 as a result of
pink bollworm and whitefly attacks.

Growing an orange orchard, according to the 32-year-old, is low-maintenance. As
a result, investing in the crop appears more reliable, whereas growing cotton
involves significant risks and is similar to gambling.

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