Status of cotton leaf curl disease in Punjab

The area under cotton crop in Punjab was 5.30 lakh ha during kharif 2010. The south-western districts of Punjab are responsible of major cotton production in Punjab state. Surveys of various cotton growing areas of Punjab revealed that leaf curl disease (CLCuD) appeared in all the cotton producing areas of Punjab in moderate to severe form on different Bt hybrids and was considered as the major limiting factor for successful cultivation of cotton during kharif 2010. Majority of farmers (>85%) avoided sowing non-descript Bt hybrids, but few farmers still preferred sowing non-descript hybrids brought from Gujrat. Leaf curl was prevalent on all the hybrids in varying proportions and high disease index recorded on RCH 134 (31.0%), Jai (31.75%), Om 333 (38.75%), Shakti 9 (23.75%), Super Maruti (22.0%), Ganga Kaveri (24.0%), Mist (20.5%) and other gujrati varieties like Deepak/Maldar etc (38.0%). Moderate Disease severity was noticed on RCH 314 (10.75%), MRC 7041 (7.75%) and MRC 6317 (8.75%). The varieties which performed better against leaf curl disease were MRC 7017 (1.25%), MRC 7031 (1.75%), MRC 6301 (4.5%), MRC 6304 (5.75%), Sriram 6488 (5.5%) and Sriram 6588 (6.5%). High population (i.e. above ETH level) of whitefly was observed during months of June, July and August further aggravating the problem. The population of whitefly was more in fields where acetamiprid was used alone or as tank mix with other insecticides. Many farmers were sparying fungicides like carbendazim to contain the menace of leaf curl on the advice of pesticide agents and dealers. In addition, the recommended insecticides like imidacloprid and thiomethoxam were used at higher dosages than recommended by some growers. Advisories were issued to the farmers to contain insects- pests and diseases as per the recommendations of PAU through public address system of gurudwaras in the villages as well as through web site of NISPM (Bt cotton). Farmers were also made aware about management of whitefly following economic threshold level and concept of integrated disease management by giving demonstrations on their fields.