Top leaves on my cotton are curling upward, crinkled, with thickened veins and small leaf like growths under the leaf. Plants look stunted. There are many whiteflies. What is this?
Upward curling, crinkling, vein thickening and enation leaf like growths under the leaf, along with heavy whitefly, point strongly to cotton leaf curl virus, which whitefly spreads. The virus itself cannot be cured by spray, so the strategy is to control the whitefly carrier and reduce spread. Rogue out badly infected early plants if they are few, and keep the field and bunds free of weed hosts. Manage whitefly with yellow sticky traps and a recommended insecticide rotated by mode of action, but avoid synthetic pyrethroids which can flare whitefly. For next season the real fix is a tolerant or resistant variety recommended for your belt, clean certified seed, and proper spacing for airflow. Confirm the virus from a leaf photo and the current variety and spray advice with PAU or your KVK.
In our Malwa area this comes every year when whitefly is high. Once the plant curls badly it never recovers, so I focus on early whitefly control and choosing the tolerant variety PAU suggests.
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