September 27, 2007	Thursday	Ramazan 14, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 26: The provincial agriculture ministry with the support of farmers has successfully thwarted the major threat of ‘Leaffolder’ virus which could have damaged the major portion of the Sindh’s main cash paddy crop — Irri-6.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday Secretary Agriculture Mohkamuddin Qadri, however, admitted that the major role in controlling the deadly virus was played by the climate which in upper Sindh suddenly cooled down killing the virus that generally breeds in hot weather.

Paddy is mainly cultivated in Larkana, Shahdadpur, Qambar, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore and Sukkur.

However, the damage to the paddy crop was estimated in the range of 10 to 20 per cent. The crop in Larkana suffered 20 per cent losses, Jacobabad 15 per cent, Shikarpur 10 per cent and Sukkur three per cent.Over 1.7 million tons of Irri-6 rice were produced by the province in 2006-07 of which a good quantity was also exported.

The secretary agriculture disclosed that the cotton crop in Sindh was also endangered by attack of mealybug for which no pesticide was available in the market.

He said that the ministry had despatched teams to the cotton growing areas of the upper Sindh to advise farmers how to control the damage caused by mealybug, which breeds on host plants scattered between the cotton plants.

Farm experts suggested that weeding out of unwanted plants from the fields before and after cotton sowing would be the best way to get rid of this virus. “The damage caused by the virus so far is negligible and efforts are underway to control it,” he added.

He said that the ministry was working on a project to develop worms inimical to the mealybug. These crop-friendly insects would be imported and bred locally on a large-scale to take on the killer virus. “The project to breed anti-mealybug virus will take one year to complete,” he disclosed.

Local scientists were of the view that mealybug was not a local breed but had its origin in Multan.

It might be transmitted to the province through a variety of carriers including transportation of farm produce, they added. The virus was discovered in the province for the first time about two years ago.

Cotton harvesting in lower Sindh had been started while picking would start in 10 to 15 days in upper Sindh.

There is good news for cotton growers that a scientist of the Karachi University Ms Bina Kazi has evolved a pesticide solution which has proved to be the anti-mealybug.

The ministry has informed the cotton growers in upper Sindh about the composition of the new pesticide formula, which could be prepared by mixing a few chemical ingredients.