UPL in association with district agriculture department organized a free seminar on Pink Bollworm Management on Cotton Crop in Dhule which was attended by 450 farmers from 40 villages. The seminar was a part of initiative by UPL and Dhule Agriculture Department to safeguard the farmers facing severe yield and financial losses since last couple of years due to the attack on Pink Bollworm on cotton crop since last couple of years. During the seminar, the farmers were also informed about the safety measures to be followed while spraying crop protection products.The Seminar was organised at Shirpur Taluka, Dhule where experts from UPL and agriculture department informed the farmers about different stages of pest attack on Cotton, identifying them and how to control them with effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) method. During the seminar, Adarsh Farm Services (AFS)’s Smart Spraying Technology machine was inaugurated to serve the farmers. The experts also informed the farmers about UPL’s innovative product Sorter which has the label claim for effective control over Pink Bollworm.
During the seminar, the farmers were also made aware about AFS, a smart spraying technology provided by UPL which is safer, faster and economical for the farmers which requires no human interaction while spraying crop protection chemicals in the field.
Pankaj Joshi, Head, Strategic Business Unit said, “Our cotton Farmers are working very hard but Pink Bollworm is affecting their yield as well as income badly. To create awareness among the farmers about the Pink Bollworm Menace and control them, we organised this seminar which received very positive response. We are also organising such seminars in other cotton crop producing regions of Maharashtra namely Chandrapur, Yavatmal and Shegaon this week.”
Mr. P.M Sonvane, ADO Dhule. appreciated UPL’s initiative of organising seminar on Pink Bollworm Management. He informed the farmers about key issues related with cotton crop like land preparation, natural enemies of pest, IPM and use of Pheromone Traps to identify the stage of pest and decide the sprays.
In Maharashtra, UPL has been organising several workshops and projects in association with Dr. Panjabrao Krishi Vidyapeeth (PDKV) to control the Pink Bollworm and Fall Army Worm attack. Under this project UPL and PDKV adopted villages in Yavatmal district and trained the farmers with effective pink bollworm management on cotton which not only resulted in controlled pink bollworm pest but also received higher and quality yields of cotton for the farmers. Under this project, this year also several villages have been selected in Akola and Buldhana district.
