23 Feb Off-season management campaign should be expedited to increase per acre yield of upcoming cotton crop, says Additional Secretary Agriculture

Staff Report

Lahore: Cotton crop is very important for the country’s economy. Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force), Punjab Muhammad Shabbir Ahmad Khan while presiding over a review meeting of off-season management of cotton at Agriculture House, Lahore said that the ongoing off-season management campaign should be intensified to get better yield and management of harmful pests especially Pink Bollworm of upcoming cotton crop. On the occasion, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr. Muhammad Anjum Ali while briefing the Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) said that Agricultural Extension workers are implementing the off-season management of cotton as per their target. Apart from this, special awareness campaign is also going on for the farmers and announcements are also being made in mosques, so that, the farmers should keep the cotton sticks on their deras in condition of small bundles while stacking them in such a way that the bases of the sticks are towards the ground so that due to the sunlight, the vermilions and larvae present in these sticks are destroyed. Apart from this, larvae of infested bolls separate and destroy the trunks and keep turning the piles of the pellets upside down after a gap of fifteen days. Apart from this, the owners of ginning factories have also been instructed to collect and destroy cotton tenders, seeds and waste etc. Farmers are told during the awareness campaign to wash the stored cotton seeds in stores/warehouses with ammonium phosphide so that the winter sleeping pink bollworms present in the seeds is destroyed. On this occasion, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) Punjab stressed on further mobilization of field staff so that off-season management of cotton through mass contact could be further expedited. Later, the Additional Secretary Agriculture Task Force emphasized on track and traceability for supply of fertilizers to the farmers at a fixed price and directed to take action against those involved in black marketing and overcharging. The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force), South Punjab, Chaudhry Imtiaz, Director General Agriculture Pest Warning, Punjab Rana Faqir Ahmad, Director Agricultural Information, Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar and Director Agriculture (Extension), Sahiwal, Chaudhry Shahbaz Akhtar alongwith other officers.