Agriculture Secretary, Punjab Asad ullah Khan has said that cotton has been cultivated on an area of 3.6 million acres in Punjab province which is expected to produce 6.6 million bales. Ensure achievement of production target through joint efforts of all stakeholders.
He expressed these views while presiding over a high level meeting to review the situation of cotton in the committee room of Mango Research Institute, Multan.
Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel, Additional Secretary Agriculture (Task Force) Imtiaz Ahmed Warraich, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr Muhammad Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Research) Punjab Muhammad Nawaz Mekan, Director General (Pest Warning) Rana Faqir Ahmed, Director Agricultural Information Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar, Director Cotton Dr. Sagheer Ahmed and other officers participated.
Secretary Agriculture, Punjab further said that the staff of Extension and Pest Warning wings stood side by side in the field to impart the latest production technology of cotton to the farmers.
He said that Secretary Agriculture South Punjab, Task Force Wing and other staff should be on duty to monitor the field teams. Pakistan could get out of the difficult economic maelstrom as a result of achieving the cotton production target.
The Department of Agriculture worked closely with all the stakeholders last year which made the journey of cotton rehabilitation possible and proved to be a profitable crop for the cotton growers. He added that the current heat wave is a challenge which has had various effects on the cotton crop. Focus more on crop health.
There are important issues like hot weather and water scarcity which need better management. He said that the field officers should spend most of their time in the cotton fields with the farmers and do regular pest scouting of the crop.
