Punjab expecting a decline in average cotton yield this year: official

LAHORE: The Punjab province, where cotton has been cultivated over 3.7 million acres of land this year, has obtained till date 5.7 million bales. The province is expecting an average yield of 17 maund per acre against 19 maund per acre of last year.

Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Anjum Ali disclosed this at a high-level meeting held on Monday with Minister for Agriculture Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi in the chair.

The meeting was convened at the Agriculture House to review the current situation of cotton and the action plan for the coming crops.

Due to floods and natural calamities, 0.234 million acres of area under cotton cultivation has been lost. This year’s cotton crop cultivated 16% more area which will achieve 17 maund per acre of production while last year 19 maund per acre of cotton was achieved, Dr Anjum added.

Speaking on this occasion, Gardezi said that high production of cotton is very important for the national economy. At this stage, better planning of seed and other agricultural inputs for the next crop should be done along with guiding the cotton farmers on clean picking and other issues.

The Minister inquired about pest attack this year and it was briefed that this year, relatively less attack of the army worm, whitefly, pink bollworm and other insects has also been noticed as compared to last year because the implementation of IPM was ensured and better results were obtained.

The minister directed to submit a comprehensive report regarding results on the cotton crop. On this occasion, the minister said that supply of quality seeds to the farmers is a big challenge to get better yield from the next cotton crop. This includes non-use of quality seeds.

Apart from this, the minister directed to use media vans for extending modern extension services and arranging awareness programs for the growers after 6 pm.

Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Research) Muhammad Nawaz Khan Maikan, Director General Agriculture (Pest Warning) Rana Muhammad Faqir Ahmed, Director Agriculture Information Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar were present along with other senior officers and stakeholders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022