Since the last few years, farmers in the Yavatmal region of Maharashtra have been challenged by pests like the pink bollworm on cotton which is assuming menacing proportions, and this year too farmers have noticed with alarm, an early onset of the pest. The dangerous chemical cocktail of pesticides used by farmers in the area has resulted in rampant pesticide poisoning. Multiple measures like pheromone and light traps, multi-cropping and changing cropping seasons have been initiated, but the effectiveness of these measures remain to be seen. On August 10, when Sanjay Rathod walked to his lush cotton field in Lasina village in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, he noticed some closed yellow flowers. Opening them, he found to his horror the tiny larvae of the pink bollworm. He shared a photo with other farmers on Whatsapp groups and immediately got a response on what pesticides he should use. Accordingly, he sprayed an insecticide Larvin and some neem spray. They didn’t have any effect. He is now terrified of a repeat of last year when he lost half the cotton on his six acres of land, to the pink bollworm menace. From the main road, his field in a 15-20 minute walk and you can sink knee deep into the soft soil. Walking around, he obsessively checks each flower and finds a number of the pests. “They are early this year,” he says, downcast. He has installed pheromone traps, in which he finds nothing, and a light trap as well. The next day, the district agricultural officers paid a visit to his farm and found that the pest attack was not serious and below the economic threshold level (ETL). “It’s a healthy field,” proclaimed Pramod Yadgiriwar, associate director, research, zonal agricultural research station, Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola. However, Rathod is not very convinced. He is still anxious that he will lose his crop as the scientists didn’t check the whole field. Over a week later, he found few pink bollworms but noticed sap-sucking pests and is now seeking advice from Yadgiriwar on how to deal with them. One of the issues with Bt cotton has been a resurgence of secondary pests, the mealy bug among them. Light traps and pheromone traps dot the cotton landscape in Yavatmal district in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. This is the epicentre of farmer suicides in the country and in addition to the farm distress, since the last few years, farmers are challenged by pests like the pink bollworm (larvae of the moth Pectinophora gossypiella) on cotton which is assuming menacing proportions. This year too, farmers have noticed with alarm, an early onset of the pest. The pink bollworm has not caused much trouble in India unlike the green or American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) which used to devastate cotton. Bt cotton, a genetically modified pest resistant variety, was launched to tackle the green bollworm in 2002. However, last year (2017), pink bollworm damage was widespread in Maharashtra and many farmers are still waiting for the compensation announced by the government. This pest has added to the complex theatre of distress in Yavatmal. Pesticide poisoning Cotton has been grown in Yavatmal for over 100 years and the cotton acreage keeps fluctuating, but it is the mainstay of the local economy. Since 2002, farmers adopted Bt cotton in a big way and now they also plant herbicide tolerant Bt cotton which is as yet illegal in the country and has not been approved for planting. In 2017, the sudden increase in pests, mainly the pink bollworm from July onwards prompted intensive chemical spraying which resulted in 22 deaths in Yavatmal district and over 60 overall in the state. In the government hospital at Yavatmal alone there were 507 admissions and 13 deaths, according to official figures. There were extensive crop losses due to the pink bollworm and this year, the cotton area has reduced to between 3.6 million and 3.8 mha compared to 4.2 mha in 2017-18 in Maharashtra, according to the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR). The effects of spraying a dangerous mix of chemicals are being felt already and there have been 72 admissions in the Yavatmal government hospital till August 28 this year, with five new admissions on that day. There are 22 persons in the ward, with six critically ill and one on a ventilator. So far 50 have been discharged. The doctors said the patients do not use safety kits and tend to use organophosphates and weed killers, which have an impact on their body. Prompted by last year’s influx, the hospital dean, Dr. Man Shrigiriwar has set up a special unit for inhalation and contact poisoning patients and closely monitors their progress. The hospital runs acetyl cholinesterase serum tests to detect the presence of organophosphates and monitors new patients with oximeters round the clock till they get better. In the special unit, Manohar Chavan from Pimpalkuta village said he only tied a kerchief around his mouth and nose while spraying — that didn’t help him. He is terrified he will die, as last year there was a death from pesticide poisoning in his village. He now wants to give up farming. Sitaram Hole lying in the next bed, is not sure what he has sprayed. He too felt giddy and sweated profusely after two days of continuous spraying and had to seek help. Battling the pink bollworm After last year’s debacle, for the first time, the Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, has set up a zone-wise monitoring committee for the pink bollworm in Vidarbha this year, said Yadgiriwar, who heads the committee for central Vidarbha. The committees have been active in all 11 districts of the region since July and will continue their work till February of next year. There were few instances of the pink bollworm crossing the economic threshold level (ETL), he said. Only two villages in Pusad and Umerkhed talukas of Yavatmal district had reported that and now, towards August end, the pest was under control in those places. He advised using light traps for 2-3 hours early morning and after dusk. N.M. Kolapkar, district superintendent agricultural officer, Yavatmal, said the government published regular advisories on tackling the pink bollworm. Pheromone traps have just been granted a 90 percent subsidy even though farmers find them to be ineffective. The department has recommended multi-cropping and increasing biodiversity, an advice not readily accepted. All over the region, special awareness programmes are run by the government and even by private pesticide companies on the dangers of poisoning by spraying, advocating the use of protective body kits to minimise effects, apart from guidance on pest control. Whatsapp groups initiated by the district agricultural department share advice, information and photographs on campaigns. There seems to be an all-out battle against the pink bollworm. The effectiveness of these measures remains to be seen. For now, it is the unregulated pesticide dealers who are making the most by advocating toxic cocktails which desperate farmers are spraying on their crop. Mangesh Jarile from Pimpri Butti village in Yavatmal shows bills of various pesticides worth Rs 25,000 from the local dealer at Akola Bazar who has advocated Danitol (a synthetic pyrethroid, widely recommended by pesticide dealers), Profex, Elevator and many other brands. He has been spraying a mixture of this on his cotton crop to kill the pink bollworm, but to no effect. He feels dizzy while spraying and has to rest often despite being one of the five in the village to be given free safety kits. He and his friend Suresh Thakur have installed makeshift light traps which work depending on the electricity supply which is erratic. Last year too this village suffered crop loss and there have been over 10 suicides reported from here over the years. Increasing debt and despair seems to haunt these farmers and they want to move out of farming and look for paid jobs. “It is better to sell our land and go somewhere and work, at least we will have a steady income,” said a frustrated Jarile. The village depends on moneylenders for credit and rarely do they get crop insurance. The danger with light traps which are supposed to attract the small grey moths of Pectinophora gossypiella, whose larvae is the pink bollworm, is that they are left on all day and night. The traps attract all kinds of insects and moths, killing the beneficial ones as well. CICR has advocated that light traps must be kept only next to gins, to attract moths, and not on fields. However, this advice seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Yadgiriwar said the light traps used were not the scientific ones; farmers complain the pheromone traps are not working and they didn’t notice any moths in them. It is also difficult to go and switch off the light trap at night, so it’s left on all the time. They fear a more intense attack on cotton this year. Contrary to government assurance that the pink bollworm was under control, in Kalamb, large farmers like Anandrao Jagtap who has 24 acres at Parsodi Budruk, said he found larvae of the pink bollworm in the yellow cotton flowers in August itself and the neem spray that the government recommended was not having an effect. Unlike last year this time, Yogesh Dhande, another farmer, said they were better prepared but still they are worried about crop loss. CICR advised farmers to sow cotton between June 15 and the first week of July and then uproot it by December. However, most farmers allow the crop to stand till April, since they get more pickings. They do not accept the CICR’s advice as it means their harvest will come down by many quintals.