Punjab agriculture department has advised farmers to sow only registered varieties of cotton from April 1 to May 30 and avail subsidy worth billions being offered by the provincial government.
Agriculture spokesman said in a statement that farmers should sow registered seed varieties including BS-15, CIM-663, CKC-1, CKC-3, FH-490, IUB-2013, MNh-1020, NIBGE-11, Niab-545, Niab-878, Niab-1048, and Niab Kiran. On sowing above mentioned seed varieties, farmers can avail subsidy for an area upto a maximum of five acres. The
Rs 1000 per bag subsidy would be available to registered farmers on a first come first served basis, the spokesman said in a statement.
Farmers can obtain the best quality registered seed bags from Punjab Seed Corporation and registered private entities.
To claim a subsidy, farmers should take out the voucher from the seed bag, and send its secret number to 8070 in the form of SMS in the format ‘secret-voucher-number space identity-card-number’.
The spokesman warned that sowing unregistered cotton varieties could result in losses.
He said that farmers should cover their cotton area with at least 10 per cent non-Bt varieties so that pests do not develop resistance against safeguards introduced in Bt varieties.—APP
