Govt Taking Steps To Revive Cotton: Minister

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 14, 2022 | 10:55 PM

Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi on Monday said that the incumbent government was taking all possible steps for revival of cotton and reduce the chances of pest infestation on the next crop

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Mar, 2022 ) :Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi on Monday said that the incumbent government was taking all possible steps for revival of cotton and reduce the chances of pest infestation on the next crop.

He said this while presiding over the first meeting of the Cotton Planning Committee at Civil Secretariat here.

The Minister directed the department to ensure the supply of approved varieties of cotton seeds to the farmers for the next cotton crop and take legal action against the fake seed mafia.

Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi said that breeders were working for the promotion of new varieties of cotton and added that SOPs should be evolved so that technically sound person could develop varieties in future. No NGO should provide any kind of technical guidance to cotton growers without the approval of the Agriculture department, he added.

In the meeting, the Minister paid tribute to the officials of the Agriculture department for better production of the cotton crop in 2020-21.

In addition, a strategy had been formulated to improve future cotton production, he added.

Punjab Agriculture Secretary Asad Rehman Gilani directed to speed up the ongoing campaign against spurious pesticides and ensure availability of quality agricultural inputs in the market to protect the next crop of cotton from pests. Cotton revival was a challenge for which all stakeholders had to work together, he added.

He said Kissan Card had been issued to the cotton farmers through which subsidy would be provided to growers.

South Punjab Agriculture Secretary Saqib Ali said that the IPM manual would be updated and distributed among cotton growers.

The meeting was attended by Director General Agriculture Extension Dr. Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General (Research) Dr. Muhammad Akhtar, Director General (Pest Warning and Quality Control) Dr. Muhammad Aslam, Chief Executive PARB Dr Abid Mahmood and Director Cotton Research Institute Multan Dr Saghir and others.