‘Pink bookworm damages 1m cotton bales across country’

MULTAN: South Punjab Agriculture Secretary Saqib Ali has said that pink bookworm is one of the deadliest pests, which approximately damaged one million bales across the country.

He was presiding over a meeting held to review pink bollworm management here on Friday. The secretary said that cotton crops could be saved through better management. He said that the departmental reports show that pink bollworm attack had increased in Multan, Khanewal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Lodhran, Bahawalnagar and Fort Abbas. He recommended farmers complete removal of unopened cotton bowls and grazing of animals in the fields after final picking to end the possibility of pink bollworm spread. He directed officials to provide guidance to farmers for the complete removal of pink bollworm from cotton bowls. The farmers should keep stocked cotton sticks in a vertical state, he suggested. The secretary said that measures were being taken to save the next crop.

A marathon campaign had been planned to launch for pest management during the next whole year. He said that agriculture was a life of people of the South Punjab as majority of the population involved in this profession. He sought cooperation from all the agriculture stakeholders for the restoration of echo system and better cotton production.

194 power pilferers nabbed: Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) Friday caught 194 power pilferers during separate operations throughout the south Punjab. Mepco teams accompanying by task forces inspected different places in Multan, Vehari, Sahiwal, Rahimyar Khan, Muzaffargarh, Bahawalnagar, Khanewal, and Dera Ghazi Khan and caught 194 power thieves. The Mepco teams also detected theft of 246,000 units. A sum of over Rs 4 million was imposed as fine while cases were also lodged against four power pilferers involved in tampering with body of meters.