Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is the most important commercial crop. Based on cotton cultivation, India is divided into three major zones :

• North zone (Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan),
• Central zone (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat)
• South zone (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu)

The major cotton growing districts of Punjab are Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Faridkot, Sangrur and Barnala. One of the major bottlenecks in cotton cultivation is attack of insect pests and diseases which significantly reduces the yield. The insect pest complex of cotton crop is broadly categorized into two groups :

• Sucking pests and Bollworms

Bt cotton is providing protection against bollworms but it does not provide resistance against sucking insect pests. Among the sucking insect pests, whitefly, leafhopper, mealybug, thrips, etc. cause serious damage to cotton crop.

Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) has assumed the status of a serious pest of cotton in the recent past and during kharif 2015 it appeared in epidemic form in Punjab and Haryana. It has been reported as a serious pest of a number of cultivated crops in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.