Severe Pest Attack on Cotton Alarms Punjab Farmers
01-Aug-2025 01:55 PM
Jalandhar. After a gap of many years, the insect named Green Leaf Hopper or Indian Cotton Jassid (also known as Hara Tela in local language) has started attacking the cotton crop in northern India again during the current season. This time its number is being seen to be very high unexpectedly, due to which there is a possibility of heavy damage to the cotton crop in many areas. Farmers are worried there.
Agricultural experts have attributed the sudden increase in the number of Hara Tela insect to favorable weather conditions.
They say that due to more than normal average rainfall, regular humidity, increase in rainy days and continuous cloud cover in the sky, the reproductive capacity of this insect has increased and it is becoming difficult to stop its attack. Due to its severe attack, there is a possibility of a decline of up to 30 percent in the yield rate of cotton (kapok).
The cotton crop is facing a lot of infestation from this pest in Mansa district of Punjab and the productivity of cotton is likely to decrease by 20-25 percent there.
All the farmers of a village in this district cultivate only cotton and not a single field is safe from the infestation of this dangerous pest.
Till now, no official of the Agriculture Department has reached there to take care of the farmers and assess the damage to the cotton crop. Government officials are not giving any information in this regard at the moment.
The cotton crop in Sirsa district of Haryana is also being badly affected by the infestation of this destructive pest. Only cotton is cultivated in a village of this district and the standing crop of cotton in all the fields there has been engulfed by this pest.
Earlier, the farmers were considering the yellowing and shrinkage of the leaves of the cotton plants as damage caused by rain but soon it became clear that this was due to the infestation of the green oil pest. As a result, there was a delay in spraying insecticides and the crop was damaged.
In Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan too, there have been reports of cotton crop being attacked by this insect and farmers are unable to find any way to save the crop from it.