Punjab Govt Cracks Down On Sale Of Fake Cotton Seeds, Pesticides

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Punjab Govt Cracks Down On Sale Of Fake Cotton Seeds, Pesticides

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh issued strict instructions to the Department of Agriculture to crack down on the sale of spurious pesticides and seeds to cotton farmers, directing them to ensure that only 33 approved varieties of seeds are sold at monitored prices to prevent loss of crop on this account.

The CM instructed the officials to coordinate with neighbouring Haryana to ensure that the same quality seeds are available and sown in the region. CM also asked the agriculture department officials to explore the possibility of tying up with an existing commodities exchange or set up their own exchange for future trading of commodities like potato and cotton to ensure guaranteed sale of these products and save the farmers from distress selling.

Chairing a review meeting of the Department of Agriculture here, the CM expressed concern over the declining cotton yields in the state as a result of whitefly infections, and suggested to the PAU to explore possibilities of introducing better quality Egyptian and Australian cotton varieties to enhance the profitability of the farmers. Referring to cotton as the 'white gold' of southern Malwa region, he underlined the need to educate the farmers on the use of less insecticides/pesticides.

CM directed the officials to initiate a programme to ensure sale and application of only PAU-approved pesticides and recognised seeds. He also asked them to launch a campaign to rid cotton as well as other crops of whitefly, suggesting removal of weeds from the roadside to check growth of whitefly.

Captain Amarinder pointed out that the department would need to reach out to 1500 villages to educate farmers and create awareness about the threat of whitefly. The PAU informed the meeting that whitefly infection had come down, as per their February-March 2017 survey but work still remained to be done to eliminate the risk completely. The process of controlling whitefly starts in a phased manner in March and continues till September.