Pink Bollworm

• Cotton prices, represented by “Cotton candy,” saw a decline which is attributed to reports of pink bollworm infestation in the cotton crop, causing a reduction in yields.
• Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee (CIB&RC) — regulatory body for processing of application for grant of registration of insecticides– has granted the registration of 50 insecticide formulations for the control of pink bollworm and bollworm complex.
  • CIBRC works under the purview of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
• Pink bollworm infestation is seen in all the cotton-growing areas of north, central and south zone across the country.

ABOUT PINK BOLLWORM

• Scientific name- Pectinophora Gossypiella
• Originally native to India, it is now recorded in nearly all the cotton-growing countries of the world.
• It is considered possibly the most destructive pest on cotton
• Females lay eggs on cotton bolls; once hatched, the larvae eat the seeds and damage the fibers of the cotton, reducing the yield and quality.
• In certain parts of India, the pink bollworm is now resistant to first generation transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard cotton) that expresses a single Bt gene (Cry1Ac).