Cotton farmers to get friendly pests

 

The Agriculture Department has made all the biological laboratories operational in Punjab to develop one million Crysopa, a crop-friendly pest, for free distribution among farmers for forthcoming cotton sowing season to obtain better cotton production of good quality.

Crysopa eats enemy pests including white fly, Jassid and Aphid and thus reduces cost on application of pesticides and subsequently decreases pesticides residual effect on the lint.

The initiative was a step forward to encourage farmers prefer biological control techniques over the application of pesticides with the objective to reduce cost and improve per acre production and its quality, says a release issued by media liaison unit of Punjab Agriculture Department here on Tuesday.

The spokesman said that Crysopa eats 329 white flies, 288 Jassid and 100 Aphid in his life span of five to seven days. Development of Crysopa was in progress at nine biological control laboratories at Layyah, Vehari, Muzaffargarh, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan and Sheikhupura.

 

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