The cotton crop in Haryana is under the worst attack of whiteflies and Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCuV) this year. Earlier, Ferozepore and Abohar in Punjab and Ganganagar in Rajasthan used to be the centre of attack. According to Dr Dalip Monga, principal scientist and head of the Sirsa regional station of the Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), the epicentre of the disease is near Hisar, Hansi and surrounding areas in Haryana. The impact of the disease is much higher than the previous years in Jind, Sirsa, Fatehabad and other cotton-producing districts too. Dr Monga said there was a scenario-shift this year as, till last year, the attack of whiteflies and the resultant CLCuV used to be mild in Haryana and severe in Firozepur, Abohar and Ganganagar, while this year, it is almost vice versa. "Not a day passes when five or six farmers from Sirsa do not visit our centre with samples of the crop in their hands for an advisory on the management of the disease," he added. He said the loss of the crop could not be estimated objectively in such a huge area as the impact varied from area to area. "The loss could be minimal where the farmers have managed effectively and the damage may even cross 70 per cent where the pest management by farmers has been poor," he said. The severity of the disease can be gauged from the fact that the Agriculture Department, Haryana, has issued an alert. "Letters have been issued to all Deputy Director (Agriculture) to keep a close watch on the twin effects of the whiteflies and CLCuV in their districts and file a weekly report to the headquarters," said Amardeep Singh Kuleria, the officiating Joint Director (Cotton) in Agriculture Department, Haryana. He, however, said the spread of the disease was below economic threshold level (ETL) and hence manageable. He also maintained that the disease was on the decrease eversince there was reduction in the relative humidity in the atmosphere. What is whitefly It is a pest that damages crops by sucking juice from the underside of plant leaves and secreting sugary substance "honeydew" that further deteriorates the quality of cotton lint. Whiteflies also act as carriers for the CLCuV and hence spread the virus from one plant to the other.