M A I N   N E W S

Rain hits cotton crop in Malwa
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 12
Downpour in almost the entire Malwa belt this morning has hit the cotton crop hard. Sources said about 1 lakh acres of cotton crop has submerged in ankle-deep water.

The most affected is the Muktsar-Abohar-Fazilka belt which is known for producing the best quality of cotton. The cotton crop has also been affected in 100 villages of Mansa district. Rainwater has collected in vast stretches of cotton fields in Mansa, Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot and Ferozepore districts.

The crop had already started withering in various places because of the repeated spells of heavy rain earlier this week. Heavy rain this morning has further added to the problems of cotton growers. Roots of cotton plants degenerate very rapidly in water-logged fields.

The sources said the farmers were trying to drain out rainwater from the fields but there were no openings to drain it out.

As farmers had a good crop last year, they had increased the area under cotton crop by about 1 lakh hectares this year. According to official figures, the area under cotton crop this year is 5.75 lakh hectares. The authorities concerned were expecting the production of 22 lakh bales this year whereas the cotton production was in the range of 11 lakh bales last year.

The farmers had for the first time sown the officially released varieties of Bt cotton this year. Earlier, they had been sowing Bt cotton, the seed of which was sold illegally as it was not permitted to be sown in the state.

Officials in the state Agriculture Department said they were trying to assess the damage caused to the crop during the past week.

“We would be able to come out with the figure-only after completing the assessment”, a senior officer of the department said. The crop in the fields where the water had collected could be saved if it was drained out quickly. If it remained stagnant for about 72 hours, the crop would suffer a substantial damage, he added.