Cotton the Crop of Misery: Bypassing Should be the Option

    Cotton farmers of Andhra Pradesh have been facing the onslaught of several factors like biotic, a-biotic and many other natural calamities.

   Recent media reports indicated that within one month more than 90 farmers of Andhra Pradesh have taken ultimate steps by ending their lives due to these unforeseeable forces.

    Media reports further indicated that it was the Cotton crop which was the reason of misery and dismay.

    The reason of their succumbing to the ultimate was due to insect pest damage on Cotton crops, depth crisis and crops loss due to flood (during last year) and many other natural calamities.

    This is not the first case of farmers taking their own lives, since many years, cotton farmers of Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere had taken this ultimate step due to cotton ( in maximum case) crop failures.

    It is not that sufficient steps had not been taken by the Government and concerned department, there had been many initiatives to arrest the most unfortunate trends but everything seems resulting very fewer.

     The time has come to think otherwise and take alternative approach to solve this burning problem. Cotton is not food crop; it is cash crop, if in a given area cotton is susceptible to a pests and diseases and also sensitive to other a-biotic factors then it should be replaced with other suitable crops.

    Let us come out from the un-realistic obsession and longings to particular crops. If particular crops are susceptible to particular pests and external intervention also does not bring fruitful results then changing the host plants (crops) is the alternative.