Need to evaluate pure seed to increase wheat , cotton production: Imam

ISLAMABAD: Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhr Imam on Wednesday stressed the need for evaluating pure seed to increase wheat and cotton production in the country.

Addressing the Special Committee on Agriculture, he said that Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser had constituted the committee comprising on members of parliament with an objective to enhance agriculture output to improve the living standards of the farmers,said a press release issued here.

Imam said that according to the Rules of Business, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research formulated policy for the country's agriculture.

After the 18th Amendment, the federal ministry and the provincial agriculture departments should work in unison for uplift of agriculture sector in the country, the minister added.

No investment had been made in the agriculture sector during the last 25 years, he said adding that value addition of agriculture products required for sustainable growth.

Syed Fakhr Imam said that from 1985 to 1992, the country witnessed great progress in cotton production, adding that Pink ballworms and white fly were the big pest threat of cotton.

"We also need to work on pesticides and will evaluate 40% pure cotton seed through ginning", he added.

Hoarding and smuggling were methods of creating shortage of wheat, he said adding that it was the responsibility of the provinces to identify cartelization to avoid any artificial shortage of the commodity.

The minister said that certified seeds were highly required to increase wheat production and the government was trying to evaluate 3.5 to 4 lakh tons of quality wheat seeds to provide farmer on subsidized rate.

He further informed that exports of mangoes from the country witnessed increasing trend this year.