In the Yavatmal region of Vidarbha, in the state of Maharashtra, India, infection with a pink cotton worm was detected. Spraying fields without the use of personal protective equipment resulted in the deaths of 21 farmers and workers.

Meanwhile, last Friday, agricultural experts also discovered pests in the village of Khivari.

For the third time, pest attacks and infection of cotton were discovered. Previously, pests were found in 8-10 farms in the Vidarbha Akola district and in 16 farms in the Dule district in the northern part of Maharashtra.

Pink worm

Pests in the village of Khivari were discovered by entomologist Dr. P.N. Magar and senior researcher Dr. PU Nemada from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Yavatmal. Farmers were engaged in large-scale spraying with pesticides due to a massive attack of the pink worm, which led to the deaths of 21 farmers and agricultural workers. About 1 thousand people undergo treatment for toxic symptoms of poisoning.

The number of deaths due to pesticide poisoning in Yavatmala decreased from 22 to 0 due to the free distribution of more than 25 thousand safety kits in 2018, which included breathing masks, gloves and synthetic aprons.

The State Department of Agriculture, together with KVK, conducted field trips and examined fields in the villages of Borisin, Bham Raja and Khivari in the Yavatmal district.

Dr. Magar, in connection with the crisis, said: “In the village of Khivari, a farmer who sowed cotton in the first week of June registered a 20% infection with a pink worm.” He noted that a pink worm first appeared in Gujarat in 2014, but it took about 3 years.