LAHORE: Minister for Agriculture Punjab Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi has welcomed the 21 per cent increase in the per acre yield of cotton crops in Punjab.
Speaking to a delegation of farmers on Monday, the agriculture minister said that the cotton crop had been cultivated on over 3 million acres of area in Punjab – almost 17pc less than the previous year.
“However, despite less cultivation, 51.68 lakh bales of cotton production has been recorded on and the average production remained 23.9 maund per acre. Therefore, an increase of 21pc in the per acre production of cotton has been recorded in the province which is a welcome sign,” he said.
The minister further stated that the government has provided approved varieties’ cotton’s seeds to the farmers this year on subsidised rates and ran an awareness campaign under the IPM programme for controlling insects which were wrecking havoc on crops.
Gardezi said that farmers, ginners and textiles industry were satisfied with the increase in production which is higher this year as compared to the last three years.
“The increase in production is due to farmer friendly policies, the agriculture department’s staff, and farmers who burnt the midnight oil,” he concluded.
