Cotton farmers struggle to deal with Scourge of the pink bollworm

Cotton farmers struggle to deal with Scourge of the pink bollworm

Subject: Sci

Sec: Biotech

Context:

The deadly pink bollworm has ravaged cotton crops in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Cotton cultivation in these states has fallen from around 16 lakh hectares last year to only 10 lakh hectares this year.

More about News:

• PBW (Pink bollworm) first appeared in North India during the 2017-18 season, in a few locations of Haryana and Punjab, primarily cultivating Bt cotton.
• By 2021, the pest began to cause considerable damage in several districts in Punjab, including Bathinda, Mansa, and Muktsar. Since 2021, the frequency of PBW attacks in the three aforementioned states has increased annually.
• Apart from Punjab, affected districts in Rajasthan are Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh, and in Haryana, Sirsa, Hisar, Jind, and Fatehabad.

Pink Bollworm:

• Scientific name: Pectinophora gossypiella
• The pink bollworm (PBW), known among farmers as gulabi sundhi, damages the cotton crop by burrowing its larvae into the cotton bolls. This results in the lint being cut and stained, making it unfit for use.
• Pink bollworm is native to Asia, but has become an invasive species in most of the world’s cotton-growing regions.
• In parts of India, the pink bollworm is now resistant to first generation transgenic Bt cotton(Bollgard cotton) that expresses a single Bt gene (Cry1Ac). 

PBW Spread:                                                                           

• Spreads through
• Residue of infected crops, often left by farmers on the field to be used as fuel, can also harbour PBW larvae which can then infect future crops.
• Infected cotton seeds.

Controlling PBW spread:                                          

• To prevent future infestation, fields which saw PBW infestation should not be planted with the cotton crop, for at least one season.
• Farmers have to burn residue at the earliest, and ensure there is no mixing between healthy and unhealthy seeds (or cotton).

Preventive measures:                         

• The “gold standard” of crop protection in the West, involves the application of a certain paste onto the stems of cotton plants, near the shoots. This paste releases synthetic pheromones that attract male insects.
• But due to the widespread presence of these pheromones, these males are then unable to locate the females. This disrupts the mating process, and reduces PBW population.
• For a one-acre field with roughly 7,000 cotton plants, the paste needs to be applied to 350-400 plants spread across the field, a total of three times — at the 45–50-day, 80 days, and 110-day marks after sowing.
• PBKnot Technology, also works on a similar principle. Here, thread knots with pheromone dispensers are placed strategically on the cotton fields to confuse male moths, and prevent them from finding females. This dispenser has to be tied to cotton plants when they are 45-50 days old.

Problems with adoption:

• Lack of awareness and training
• Costs
• Intensive training programs and awareness campaigns are necessary
• Expanded field demonstrations, and government and private sector support
• Coordinated effort among states where the pest has been wreaking havoc.