Progressive Farmer Elected As Chairman Cotton Research Board

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Aug, 2020 ) :A progressive farmer Bilal, was elected as the new chairman of Cotton Research and Development Board (CR&DB) Punjab for a three-year term in a board meeting held at Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) here Monday.

Outgoing chairman Suhail Haral and other members of the board congratulated the progressive farmer on his election, says an official release.

Speaking on the occasion, the new chairman expressed commitment to keep all stakeholders on board in efforts for promotion and betterment of cotton crop.

The board also took up other agenda items after election of chairman.

Highlighting ginners' problems, ex-chairman Suhail Haral said that most of the ginning factories were closed due to uncertainty and other factors and their problems needed immediate attention of the government.

Vice Chancellor, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture (MNSUA), Prof. Dr. Asif Ali advised ginners to come up with a consent ginning standardization and the same should be enforced on all.

Board members also dilated upon the problem of pests attack.

Asif Majeed, a representative of a company, identified, white fly and pink bollworms as the main dangers and their solution, he believed, would resolve rest of the secondary issues.

He said that the board should also discuss what headway has been made on virus-free, pink bollworm-free and Round-Up cotton varieties.

On the recommendation of VC MNSUA, a six member committee was formed that will visit Punjab Seed Council (PSC) farms on Tuesday to get details regarding characteristics of different varieties cultivated there and prepare a review report to help the board finalize next strategy to counter pest attacks.

Director Cotton Punjab Dr. Sagheer Ahmad said that cotton varieties that have smaller leaf like Okra or lady finger, are less vulnerable to white fly attack.

Dr. Sagheer also suggested to form a committee to analyze and test the Bt cotton varieties developed by different companies for their performance evaluation.

Chairman, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, Khalid Khokhar said that seed sector needed revolutionary reforms.

He said that seed sector should incorporate new technologies and emphasized on theneed to make role of cotton advisory committees more effective for training and guidance of cotton farmers.

The newly elected chairman research board thanked all for their active participation and announced that the next meeting of the board would be held at MNSUA Multan.