The cotton belt in Punjab stands threatened by whitefly attack with the dreaded pest detected in as many as 15 villages in Abohar region and farmers have been advised to spray recommended chemicals to save the crop.

The attack of whitefly on cotton crop, which is now in the flowering stage, is visible in about 15 villages of Khuian Sarwar block of Abohar in Fazilka district, an official of Punjab agriculture department said.

Meanwhile, farmers are being given demonstrations and advised on the type of insecticides to be used in cotton fields to save the crop from being destroyed for the second successive year.

Last year whitefly attack had caused widespread damage to Bt cotton varieties in Punjab and Haryana. In Punjab alone, 1.36 lakh hectares out of total 4.50 lakh hectares of cotton acreage was ravaged by whitefly last season and output had dropped by 40 per cent.