Threats to cotton crop

The effect of losses and subsequent low cotton prices have transformed buying interest

Over the years, cotton growers have had to contend with their fair share of insect pests ranging from the deadly bollworm, plant and stink bugs, aphids, thrips and spider mites to milder threats. It is no surprise then that insect pest management is the highest variable cost associated with production of this crop. This time it is the cotton zone districts of Punjab that have come under pest attack and the consequences are quite dire. The cotton commissioner has admitted that the government has already revised its annual target from 14 million bales to 12.6 million bales. In as many as 11 cotton growing areas there are believed to be zones where a new chemistry of pesticides will be required. Mercifully, the threat can be contained at this point but if the right measures are not taken it could lead to economic losses. One hopes growers will heed the agriculture department’s advice to carry out pest scouting twice a week and avoid repeating use of the same pesticide. Other precautionary measures such as avoiding spraying during rainy and windy weather ought to be taken as well.

With harvesting set to begin in September and end sometime in October, the authorities need to undertake and develop an insect pest management research programme that will evaluate strategies that are cost effective yet environmentally acceptable. In the first place, we need to develop methods to avoid insect pest problems through crop management, resistant varieties, and forge better understanding of the pest’s biology/ecology and molecular genetics.

The effect of these losses and subsequent low cotton prices have transformed buying interest from leading spinners that helped cotton prices recoup part of the recent losses, with both the Sindh and Punjab varieties moving above the Rs6,000 per maund mark. For the first time in the last two weeks, buyers were sufficiently present in the trading ring. The lower cotton prices seem to have attracted buying from leading spinners who were seen active in replenishing their stocks.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2017.

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