Cotton crop in over 3 lakh hectares destroyed in Punjab: Government

NEW DELHI: Cotton crop spread over three lakh hectares has been damaged in Punjab due to whitefly infestation, while soyabean, urad and moong crop have suffered loss due to yellow mosaic virus in Madhya Pradesh, government said today.

During the Kharif season this year, whitefly infestation was reported in cotton crop in Punjab and Haryana.

The Punjab government has reported damage to cotton crop in 3.32 lakh hectares, especially in eight cotton growing districts of Fazilka, Bhatinda, Mansa, Shri Muktsar Sahib, Sangrur, Barnala, Faridkot and Moga, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said during Question Hour.

He said the Haryana government has ordered a special 'gridawari' (record of land cultivation) to assess the losses in cotton due to whitefly attack.

The two governments have so far not submitted memorandum of financial assistance under National Disaster Response Fund, Singh said.

The Madhya Pradesh government has submitted a composite memorandum of Rs 4821.64 crore as financial assistance for drought and pest attack, he said.

His deputy in the ministry Sanjeev Balyan said the central government monitored the pest situation in the country and sends advisories to the states for effective action.

Experts are also sent for advising the government and the farming community to tackle pests as they can cause serious damage to crops, he added.