MULTAN: Secretary Agriculture Muhammad Mahmood on Wednesday said cotton growing had been started in the province and the department was striving hard to achieve a target of cotton sowing on an area of six million acres.
Cotton growers were advised to sow cotton seed of approved varieties and the department had announced approved varieties for cotton cultivation, he said and added that due to hardwork of the department and its initiatives cotton production increased up to 14 per cent during the financial year 2017-18 as compare to 2015-16.
He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting of cotton crop management unit here which was attended by Fatima Benish Sahi, Additional Secretary Agriculture (task force), Prof Dr Asif Ali, Vice Chancellor Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Agriculture University Multan, Dr Abid Mahmood, Director General Agriculture (Research), Dr Sageer Ahmad and others.
The secretary said the department was acting on zero tolerance policy about fake pesticides and fertilizers sales. Mahmood was of the view that cotton bumper crop during this financial year was a top priority of the government because the whole economy depended on its high production. He said the provincial government was also devising '2025 Cotton Mission' plan.
For immediate relief to cotton growers, the government was providing approved varieties of cotton seed up to 50 per cent subsidized rate and also providing subsidy voucher Rs700 per cotton bag to core area of cotton growers.
He said cotton high yield seed production Rs350.889 million was being spent on 'Commissioned Research Programme' and for white-fly control, the government was spending Rs39.612 million to provide genetic modified varieties of cotton crop.
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