Whitefly destroys 2/3rd of Punjab's cotton crop, 15 farmers commit suicide

Lehri was referring to the devastating attack by whitefly, a common pest, on the cotton crop in Punjab's Malwa region this year. It has affected about two-thirds of standing cotton crop in the state, causing an estimated loss of Rs 4,200 crore.

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There are reports of at least 15 cotton farmers committing suicide. The director of Punjab's agriculture department is under arrest as are several pesticide dealers for selling spurious pesticides. The farmers are on the roads blocking traffic and demanding compensation while the state's Akali Dal-led NDA government has announced a compensation package of Rs 640 crore, dismissed by angry farmers as peanuts.

Punjab has nearly 12 lakh acres under cotton this year and almost all of it is Bt cotton, which is resistant to some major pests such as bollworm. But over the years, whiteflies have regularly attacked cotton plants only to be controlled by intensive spraying of chemical pesticides. But this year, despite a new pesticide being introduced and subsidized by the state government, the whitefly attack spun out of control. The reasons for this virulence are yet unclear but the farmers have a story to tell.