LAHORE: Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo while presiding over the cotton review meeting on South Punjab held at MNS University of Agriculture, Multan said that cotton has so far been cultivated on more than 3.663 million acres which is 80 percent of the target set at five million acres in the province this year and all the resources are being utilised to achieve the target of cotton cultivation with the better coordination of all concerned departments participating in the “More Cotton Growing Campaign.”
Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel, Commissioner Multan Division Aamir Khattak, Commissioner Bahawalpur Division Dr Ehtesham Anwar, Vice Chancellor MNS University of Agriculture Multan Prof Dr Asif Ali, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture Pest Warning Rana Faqir Ahmad, Director Agriculture Information, Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar and all divisional officers of related departments participated while Secretary Irrigation, Punjab Wasif Khurshid, Commissioner Dera Ghazi Khan Division Dr Nasir Mahmood Bashir, deputy commissioners of all the districts of South Punjab participated online.
While giving a briefing to the participants, it was said that till now more than 1.875 million acres have been brought under cotton cultivation in Bahawalpur division against the target of 2.314 million acres.
In Dera Ghazi Khan division, 0.811 million acres against the target of 0.971 million acres, while in Multan division, 0.912 million acres against 1.269 million acres have been brought under cotton cultivation.
Regarding situation related to the availability of water for cotton crop, Sahoo was informed that in some areas of cotton cultivation, water is not available till the tail end due to which there is a problem in achieving set target.
On this occasion, Secretary Irrigation Punjab Wasif Khurshid said that during the current year in Punjab, 74,000 cusecs of canal water is available against indent canal capacity of 96,000 cusecs.
On the occasion, the Agriculture secretary said the supply of water in the canals of South Punjab during cotton cultivation is of utmost importance as South Punjab accounts for 91 percent of the total cotton target.
He further said the chief minister is personally monitoring the “Grow More Cotton” campaign. The CM has announced that divisional officers who will complete the target of cotton cultivation will be given six months salary and another six months salary as bonus for completing the cotton production target.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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