The pink bollworm menace is keeping cotton growers in Gujarat on tenterhooks even as the state has witnessed sowing on 2.66 million hectares as on August 27, about 97.5 per cent of the three year average sowing of 2.72 million hectares.

Country's largest cotton producer state has concentration of cotton crop in about 27 districts. Of the overall acreage, an estimated about 20 per cent area is reported to be affected with the worm that damages the bolls of the cotton plant. However, experts don't yet see the need to press the panic button as the plantation is still in its initial stage and the pest can be contained with various conventional and non-conventional methods.

"We have advised farmers to install Pheromone Trap in the fields to contain the spread of the worm. Also, there are chemical ways and non-chemical ways to tackle this menace. We are advising them to follow the non-chemical ways, which are less costly and effective as well. Almost entire Saurasthra region has seen sporadic presence of pink bollworm," said Dr L K Dhaduk, head of Cotton Research Station, Junagadh Agriculture University. The Station provides such solutions including Pheromone Traps at a subsidised rate to the farmers.

Dhaduk further mentioned that the menace is controllable currently, but that will not be the case post September and farmers may face heavy losses if not controlled now. "We call this stage a suicide stage of the pest. IT is still controllable. But after a month, this opportunity will be lost and farmers may have to face the consequences," he added.

Farmers, however, have started considering alternate crops after key growing regions faced severe flooding post heavy rainfall last month. "Those farmers, whose fields were flooded with rainwater and left behind damaged cotton plants. They turned to castor and onion as an alternate as these crops appeared better bet than cotton," said Ramesh Bhorania, a farmer from Rajkot district.

Meanwhile, ginners are optimistic about adequate cotton crop even after the reports of farmers switching to alternate crops. "We believe that only a marginal section of farmers will turn to other crops. With increased availability of water and better soil moisture, there are chances of good cotton yield. We don't see any major impact on cotton supply in the new season," said Anand Popat from Saurashtra Ginners Association.

As per the second advanced estimate for the crop year 2016-17 (October-September) by Cotton Advisory Board (CAB), released on Friday, the acreage under cotton has dropped 11 per cent to 10.84 million hectares as against 12.29 million hectares previous year. But the yield per hectare is expected to increase to 541 kg from 459 kg. The total cotton output is estimated to increase 4 per cent to 34.5 million bales for 2016-17.

The cotton sown during kharif 2017 will start arriving at the markets by the end of September 2017 for crop year 2017-18.

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