AJKOT: Cotton production in Gujarat, the largest producer of this staple fiber in India, may drop by 30% due to massive invasion of pink bollworm pest and sukaro (para wilt) disease. Farmers and agriculture experts fear the production may fall to a five year low to less than 90 lakh bales - down from 125 lakh bales in 2014-15. Besides farmers, the lower production threatens to hit the textile trade.

The unprecedented magnitude of the dual menace has forced thousands of cotton growers in Saurashtra and north and central Gujarat to destroy their standing crop, rendered useless due to infec tion. The crisis claimed its first victim, a 30-year-old farmer from Supedi village near Rajkot, who committed suicide after pest attack destroyed cotton grown on 85 bigha land.

"Cotton production will be 30% less this year. The area under sowing in 2015-16 was already down at around 27 lakh hectares as against 30 lakh hectares the previous year as farmers switched to other cash crops like groundnut," said N M Sharma, managing director, Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation Ltd (Gujcot). Sharma said that the production may not cross 90 lakh t bales, the lowest in five years.r Bhikhu Vekariya, a farmer in Devrajiya village of Amreli, said, "Due to pink bollworm, I got just around 200 kg per bigha instead of 600 kg per e bigha earlier. None of the pesti cides are effective."

The market prices of cotton have also declined to Rs 32,100 Rs 32,200 per candy (356 s kg) from Rs. 32,800-Rs 32,900 h per candy a month back on global cues. Farmers want the , minimum support price (MSP) e to be hiked from Rs 810 per 20 kg to over Rs 900 per 20 kg. It's a delicate situation for ginners too who are I wary of government hiking MSP . "We won't be able to afford raw cotton if the MSP is hiked above Rs 900 per 20kg.

The yarn market is reeling under slowdown and mills are already facing problems due to subdued textile market," said Dilip Patel, president, All Gujarat Ginners Association. "This pest can be controlled only if it's detec ted early. Once it enters the cotton balls, pesticides are not effective," Dr. K L Raghvani, head of entomology department at Junagadh Agricultural University , said. Raghubha Vaghela, a farmer from Derala village of Maliya-Miyana said, "I lost around 40% cotton in my 40 bigha land due to sukaro and pink bollworm." "Half of the cotton crop in my 86 bigha land is destroyed. I destroyed the infected crop after first round of plucking and sowed wheat and sesame as I have irrigation facility'' says Natubha Parmar, a farmer from Godavari village in Muli taluka of Surendranagar.

Entomologists say sukaro (para wilt) disease occurs due to many reasons, one of the main being lack of nutrients in the land where cotton is sown.

Source :timesofindia.indiatimes.com