MUZAFFARGARH, Aug 13: The agriculture district officer has launched an awareness programme for farmers regarding effective use of pesticides to counter the mealy bug attack.

He also took strict action against assistant field officers for their failure to inform farmers about countering the pest.

Agriculture district officer Jmashaid Sindhu visited many farms in Budh and Mahmoodkot on Monday and conducted pest scouting in cotton fields.

He said that in Feb last his department had supplied literature about mealy bug to farmers.

“Had farmers followed the instruction, they would have controlled the pest effectively,” he said.

Mealy bug is the common name of insects found in moist, warm climates. They are considered pests as they feed on plant juices.

Female mealybugs attach themselves to the plant and secrete a powdery wax layer (therefore the name mealy bug) used for protection while they suck the plant juices.

The males on the other hand, are short-lived as they do not feed at all as adults and only live to fertilize the females.

Sindhu said mealy bug gave 500 to 600 eggs during its life and then died. Its life cycle is of 25 days. Sindhu said pesticides that could kill the bug were Supracide, Perphinophas and Curicran.

He said four months ago, a team of his department had visited areas along the river Chenab — from Sarki to head Bakaini — and destroyed wild plant Auxin which hosted mealy bugs.

He urged the farmers to use anti-mealy bug chemicals on a mass scale.

He said farmers should not only use pesticide on cotton plants but also on paths and sides of fields as the bug was also found on these places.