LAHORE: Minister for Agriculture Punjab Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi has welcomed 21 pc increase in per acre yield of cotton in Punjab Province.
Speaking to a delegation of farmers here, Gardezi said that cotton crop had been cultivated on 31.5 lakh acres of area in Punjab – almost 17 percent less than previous year.
“Despite less cultivation, 51.68 lakh bales of cotton production has been recorded on and the average production remained 23.9 maund per acre. So,21 percent increase in per acre production of cotton in Punjab has been recorded which is a welcome sign,” said the minister.
The Minister further stated that the government has provided approved varieties’ cotton’s seeds to the farmers this year on subsidized rates and ran an awareness campaign under the IPM program for controlling the insects which resulted in increasing the production of cotton in Punjab.
Gardezi said that farmers, Ginners and textiles industry was happy with the increase in cotton production as compared to last three years.
“The increase in cotton production is due to the farmer’s friendly policies of Government, the staff of the agriculture department and farmers who burnt their midnight oil to get this increase in cotton production this year,” he concluded.
