Minister stresses need for high yielding cotton varieties to increase crop output

ISLAMABAD: National Food Security & Research Minister Syed Fakhar Imam on Thursday stressed the need for identifying about 48,000 tonnes of verified high yielding cotton seed in order to tap the crop potential of the country.

Chairing the 88th meeting of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, the minister called for ensuring the availability of certified high yielding cotton seed verities to enhance per-acre crop output for sustainable agriculture development.

The minister noted that cotton is a major cash crop of the country and can contribute significantly in the economic progress as well as agriculture sector development and prosperity of farming community.

He told the meeting that Finance Division had released Rs6 billion subsidy for eradication of white fly pesticide, adding that provinces would disburse this subsidy to registered growers.

During the meeting, appointments of the PCCC chief executive officer and other critical scientific posts were also discussed, besides administrative issues of Cotton Research Stations in Bahawalpur and Sahiwal.

The meeting also approved the budget of PCCC for next year, whereas it was informed that 62 scientists are working for improvements in the quality of cotton.

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