Cotton worm, a pest that resists farmers’ control in Raqqa countryside
Raqqa – North-Press Agency
Abdullatif Hilal
The cotton crops in the north and eastern Syria faces several agricultural pests, as the cotton worm, known as the whitefly, is one of the chronic pests in the fields of Raqqa countryside.
The farmers resort to control cotton worm after the end of each season, as cotton season this year is witnessing a heavy pest-control with insecticide and pesticides in coordination with specialized agricultural engineers.
Agricultural engineer Yasser Al-Dahdouh explained to North-Press about the benefits of controlling this pest, saying: “Farmers have to keep on controlling the white worm carefully and monitor it continuously, and it is necessary to coordinate with the agricultural engineers and follow the instructions correctly.”
The white worm raises the concerns of the farmers in the region, especially since it lives inside parts of the cotton plant, which are not significantly affected by pesticides and substances used to control them.
Ibrahim Hussein al-Khalaf, a 68-year-old farmer, pointed out that once the cotton worm attacks the crops it wouldn’t get out of them, either by insecticide nor pesticides.
Farmer Ammar al-Abdullah, a resident of Hawi-Hawa village in Raqqa countryside, said: “I’m a farmer who coordinated with specialist engineers last year and I had a good cotton production,” stressing the usefulness of the pest-control at the beginning of last season.
While another farmer, Ramadan al-Ali, 47 years old, expressed his fears of what would result from the worm pest, saying: “if it’s not controlled, we will lose the cotton season this year, and no one will plant it at all.”
In this context, Hammoud al-Khalaf, Head of the Agriculture Committee’s Preservation Office of the Raqqa Civil Council, stressed that the infection by this worm this year is little compared to previous years, calling on farmers not to use pesticides if there are no confirmed infections.
He also pointed out the need to use guaranteed and tested pesticides, in case of infection, due to the spread of bad pesticides that may cause problems for the crops if they were used.
Several local councils’ heads, communes, and heads of agricultural committees in the city of Raqqa pointed out that more than 80 organizations are operating in the charitable field, but none of them is active in the agriculture field or providing any support for farmers.