Chandigarh, August 29
While the farming community is engaged in a great battle against the American bollworm in the Malwa cotton belt, the Punjab Government is sleeping over a grant of Rs 6 crore given by the Union Government to tackle the farmers’ enemy besides other problems.
Attack of the American bollworm on the cotton crop has been detected in all parts of the cotton belt. It is not confined to a particular place or cotton field. As the weather till August 15 remained by and large wet, it provided a congenial atmosphere to the bollworm to flourish and attack the early-sown cotton crop.
Informed sources told The Tribune that the Union Government had provided over Rs 5.25 crore in 1999-2000. As the amount remained unspent, the Centre reduced the grant to Rs 75 lakh for 2000-01. The grant had come under the Central Government-sponsored integrated cotton development programme. The state government is supposed to contribute 25 per cent as its share to this amount. If the state’s share is included, the amount will touch Rs 8 crore.
Despite the best efforts of the state Agriculture Department, the Punjab Government has not released the grant yet. The only indication is that Rs 1 crore may be released out of the total amount. The Agriculture Department is supposed to provide spray pumps, integrated pest management systems and other material at subsidised rates with the grant to farmers to intensify their campaign against the bollworm.
Affected farmers told The Tribune that though the government was sending team after team of experts and officers to the belt, it had not realised that farmers, already under heavy debt, could not fight the battle against the bollworm empty handed. At least the grant provided by the Union Government to help the cotton growers should be released. Experts and officers could only guide and motivate farmers, but they could not provide resources to them, they added.
When contacted in this connection, Mr S.S. Bains, Director, Agriculture, said that since he had joined only a few days ago, he was not aware about the grant, etc. He said that he had visited the belt from August 22 to 24 and would again go to the area on September 6 and 7. The Financial Commissioner (Development), Mr C.L. Bains, also visited the cotton belt on August 27 and 28 for on-the-spot evaluation of the situation.
Mr Bains said that as a dry spell had been prevailing in the area after August 15, the attack of the bollworm had decreased in the past two weeks. A Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) team visited the area on August 17 and 18 and would again go their on September 4 and 5. It had also found that the attack was decreasing.
Mr Bains said that he was hopeful that the production of cotton would be about 15 lakh bales, about 7 lakh bales more than the figure last year, despite the attack. The area under the cotton crop this year was 5.93 lakh hectares against last year’s figure of 4.71 lakh hectares.
Asked about the measures taken to curb the attack of the bollworm, Mr Bains said that the belt had been divided into four
