Raza Naqvi Attock
The growers of Attock, Rawalpindi, Gujrat, Chakwal districts and other parts of the Punjab have been advised by the technical experts of the Agriculture Department to cultivate sunflower crops from February 1 to 25th of February starting its cultivation from January and complete it by mid of February to get a bumper yield.
A spokesman for the agriculture department said on Tuesday that Pakistan spent Rs350 billion in import of edible oil per annum. “If oil-seed crops are promoted in the country, we can save the import budget but also could earn maximum foreign exchange”, he added.
He said sunflower was a precious oil-seed crop which could not only cater to domestic food requirements but would also play an active role in trimming down import bill of edible oil. Therefore, farmers should cultivate sunflower crops over maximum space of their lands and its production would also play a pivotal role in mitigating financial sufferings of growers due to its high market value, he added.
He said time from January 1 to February 28 was most suitable for Baharia cultivation of sunflower, therefore, growers should start sunflower cultivation from the advent of January.
