Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Punjab SM Tanvir has said that agriculture is an important sector of the National economy. All possible measures are being taken for agricultural development. DNA fingerprint reporting varieties have been approved for achieving agricultural production targets, which will not only enable the acquisition of pure seed but also royalties to registered breeders from the Federal Government.
S.M Tanvir was presiding over the 57th meeting of Punjab Seed Council. In the meeting, MD Punjab Seed Corporation Shan-ul-Haq presented 16 new types of seeds of various agricultural commodities of public and private sector for approval of general cultivation.
On this occasion, Minister for Agriculture, Punjab SM Tanvir gave approval for the general cultivation of 8 different crop types, including 6 new varieties of cotton and 2 varieties of vegetables, meeting the prescribed SOPs.
Overall, in the 57th meeting of Punjab Seed Council, Minister for Agriculture, Punjab did not approve 8 varieties due to not receiving DNA fingerprint report or other unavoidable reasons. On this occasion, Mr. S.M Tanvir congratulated the agricultural scientists for the development and discovery of new varieties and directed to further improve the research trials and for the future approval of varieties of agricultural commodities in the Punjab Seed Council, variety registration and Directed to make DNA fingerprinting mandatory.
The Provincial Minister further said that the basis of agriculture is seed. The Present Government is paying special attention to the production of quality seed so that we can increase our per acre agricultural production with world-class seed, which will also increase domestic exports.
While giving instructions to maintain the quality while discovering new types of agricultural commodities, he said that instead of discovering more types, such types should be discovered which can give better results in the field.
Apart from traditional agriculture, there are opportunities to increase the production of dates and fruits in our country. He urged the agricultural scientists to discover varieties that can be profitable for five years or more in the field while keeping production costs low.
New varieties of resistant crops are being developed to minimize disease attack on crops and increase agricultural production per acre.
