Punjab’s otherwise prosperous Malwa region has been reeling from an agrarian crisis in the last few years. Farmers in Malwa’s Bhatinda district cultivate wheat and rice; the third major crop is cotton, which pays them the most. But the crisis is so massive that many farmers are in debt traps.

This year, cotton cultivation was destroyed by Pink bollworm, locally known as Gulabi sundi. Farmers in the adjoining district of Sangrur are also battling against this outbreak.