MULTAN: Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) Director Research Dr Tasawur Hussain Malik said Wednesday that 93 new cotton varieties, including 85 Bt and eight (8) non-Bt varieties, would undergo national coordinated varietal trials (NCVT) all over Pakistan to assess their production capability and fiber qualities.
The noted agriculture scientist said this while addressing the participants of last day proceedings of three-day of Agriculture Research Committee (ARC) meeting of PCCC at Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) Multan, CCRI Multan spokesman said.
These varieties or germplasms included 41 developed by public sector and 44 by the private sector and all would be cultivated in four provinces of the country to assess their performance under the 2018-19 research plan, he added.
The NCVT is considered almost the last stage of evaluating the performance of any crop variety before it is finally approved by the authorities for commercial cultivation.
Cotton Commissioner Dr. Khalid Abdullah, who presided over the meeting, said the government was committed to encourage and promote seed industry on scientific lines, including employing biotechnology techniques.
He advised scientists to employ biotechnology to make cotton crop more profitable and to keep it safe against threats like diseases and pests including pink boll worm.
Director CCRI Multan Dr Zahid Mahmood, director CCRI Sakrand Hidayatullah Bhutto, Incharge Cotton Programme NIAB Dr Manzoor Hussain Manj, Prof Dr Idrees Ahmad from Centre of Excellence on Molecular Biology (CEMB) Lahore, head of plant breeding and genetics Islamia University Bahawalpur Dr Iqbal Bandesha, Dr Syed Bilal Hussain from Institute of Molecular Biology BZU Multan, besides scientists from cotton research stations from all the provinces and private sector and progressive farmers attended the meeting.
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