Despite a huge drop in acreage in the wake of a whitefly attack last year, the cotton yield is expected to remain normal during the current season in Punjab. Due to the fear of another whitefly attack, the area of cotton cultivation in the state shrunk to 2.56 lakh hectares as against 3.39 lakh hectares last season.

This year there has been a focus on clean cultivation, good quality seeds, timely sowing, proper monitoring and timely remedial action, quality control of pesticides and creating awareness about identification of severity of the incidence and management methods. Training camps for farmers were organized. They were provided a crop calendar and literature on cotton. Pesticide dealers were imparted training and radio and TV talk shows dealt with pest management in cotton. Field supervisors monitored the ground situation.

The pest attack had caused widespread damage to the Bt cotton variety in Punjab and Haryana last year. In Punjab, 1.36 lakh hectares, out of 4.50 lakh hectares of cotton acreage, were ravaged by the attack and the output had dropped by 40 per cent.

The whitefly attack was less severe in 2016 than in 2015. Last year's pest attack made some farmers plough up their cotton fields in anticipation of a similar attack this year.