Current Science

Rishi Kumar ¹, Krishnendu Mondal ¹, Keshab Gogoi ¹, Kamalika Bhattacharyya ¹

Affiliations
1 Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun 248 001, IN

Abstract

Young Ecologist Talk and Interact (YETI) is a unique conference in many ways. It is one of the few conferences in the world and the only one in India which is organized by the students, for the students in the field of ecology and conservation. YETI has no fixed venue and it travels across the length and breadth of India, going where the team of students takes it. The onus of organizing YETI is totally up to a self-made team of student organizers, who come together and propose this to an ever-increasing group of YETI members.

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S. Kranthi ¹, U. Satija ¹, P. Pusadkar ¹, Rishi Kumar ², C. S. Shastri ¹, S. Ansari ¹, H. B. Santosh ¹, D. Monga ², K. R. Kranthi ¹

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Post Bag No. 2, Shankar Nagar P.O., Nagpur 440 010, IN
2 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Regional Station, Sirsa 125 055, IN

Abstract

Genetically modified (GM) cotton fortified with cry1Ac (crystal 1Ac) gene derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), commonly known as Bt-cotton, was approved in 2002 for commercial cultivation in India. The Cry1Ac protein expressed in Bt-cotton is toxic to the three major cotton bollworms: the American bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae), pink bollworm Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) (Lepidoptera:Gelechiidae) and spotted bollworms Earias vittella (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae) and Earias insulana (Boisduval) (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae).

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Rishi Kumar ¹, D. Monga ¹, V. Chinna Babu Naik ², Paramjit Singh ¹, V. N. Waghmare ²

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Regional Station, Sirsa 125 055, IN
2 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur 440 010, IN

Abstract

Pink Bollworm (PBW) incidence on Bollgard-II (BG II) cotton was not observed so far in North Zone of India. During 2018–19 cotton season, BG II cotton was found infested withPink Bollworm at one location in Haryana and two locations inPunjab near cotton ginning and oil extraction units. Cotton seeds are being procured from the central and south India by many units where PBW has already acquired resistance against BG II hybrids. Bioecological and resistance monitoring studies of larvae collected from the infested location revealed absence of larval diapauses in surviving population and resistance levels equivalent to central/south zone populations. The threat perception of pink bollworm in north zone on BG II cotton due to transport of resistant larvae along with cotton seed is discussed.

Keywords

Cotton Seeds, Diapause, Infestations, Pheromone Traps, Pink Bollworm.

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Vijay Kumar ¹, Jagdev Singh Kular ¹, Rishi Kumar ², Sukhdev Singh Sidhu ³, Pardeep Kumar Chhuneja ¹

Affiliations
1 Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, IN
2 ICAR-Central Institute of Cotton Research, Sirsa 125 055, IN
3 Department of Agriculture (Punjab), Mohali 160 055, IN

Abstract

In 2015, a whitefly epidemic devastated cotton in about 1.5 m ha in North India and reduced the yield level to about 35% of average productivity in the state of Punjab. Protection of crop from sucking insect pests, including whitefly, is primarily based on insecticides. A more knowledgeintensive and multidisciplinary approach which can lead to a dramatic reduction in chemical use combined with unprecedented improvement in productivity should qualify as a worthy successor to the green revolution. Interventions include host plant resistance, robust surveillance and ETLbased decision-making, managing non-crop hosts, pest resurgence curtailment through targeted biopesticide and pesticide application, crop nutrition, and abiotic stress amelioration. Research refinements even as implementation progressed, high intensity outreach and cotton belt-wide implementation not just restored productivity, but also resulted in achieving record yields of 756, 750 and 778 kg lint/ha in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, compared with 197 kg lint/ha in 2015 in Punjab, and pesticide savings during these years over 2015 were INR 2589/ha, 2808/ha and 3060/ha respectively. The success story and its modus operandi have implications for ‘new agriculture’, which needs to be disseminated and debated widely.

Keywords

Agroecosystem, Bemisia tabaci, Bt-cotton, Community-Based Approach.

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Debashis Paul ¹, Rishi Kumar ¹, Y. G. Prasad ²

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Regional Station, Sirsa 125 055, India, IN
2 ICAR-Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur 441 108, India, IN

Abstract

In India, after its introduction in 2002, Bt cotton showed a steep increment in terms of area coverage and presently occupies more than 95% of the total cotton cultivated area; recommended with the planting of structured refuge of the same non-Bt cotton hybrid iso-line at the periphery of the Bt cotton field. Structured refuge compliance is lacking due to farmers’ lack of understanding of its significance, along with other challenges like non-isogenic ‘refugia’ seeds and asynchronous agro­nomy between main and refuge crops. Though the refugia in Bag concept was studied in 2012, the government introduced ‘Refugia in Bag’, which mandates 5–10% non-Bt seeds blended with 90–95% Bt seeds in every BG-II hybrid seed packet being sold in the market from June 2020. However, complaints about improper seed proportions led to qualitative ELISA testing, revealing that a substantial number of evaluated hybrids did not adhere to recommended ‘refugia’ proportions in 2022 and 2023, which may be due to improper dispensing and blending methods during seed packaging. The study emphasizes the need for standardizing blending procedures to ensure adherence to ‘Refugia in Bag’ standards for all stakeholders.

Keywords

Bollworms, BG-II hybrid, Cry toxin, ELISA, refugia in bag.

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