Punjab govt approves 56 new varieties of seed

LAHORE:The Punjab government Friday approved 56 new varieties of different crops in the 56th meeting of the Punjab Seed Council.

The meeting was chaired by the Provincial Minister for Industries, Commerce and Energy, Punjab SM Tanveer while attended by the Secretary Agriculture Punjab Wasif Khurshid and other officials concerned.

SM Tanveer said that the Punjab government was taking steps to provide quality agricultural inputs to farmers to achieve production targets. He said the government was taking all possible steps to ensure the supply of quality agricultural inputs to the farmers to achieve the production targets.

In the meeting, 56 new varieties of agricultural commodity of public and private sector were approved, which included varieties of paddy, hybrid maize, oats, gram, groundnut, rye, sunflower, sesame, barseem, dates, wheat and cotton.

The provincial minister approved the general cultivation of 56 new varieties while directing to submit DNA fingerprint reports of seven different crop varieties within 15 days.

SM Tanveer directed to set up a sub-committee "Green Revolution 2" to review the problems faced in various types of crops. He also congratulated agricultural scientists for developing these varieties and directed to improve the research trials and for the future in the Punjab Seed Council, he directed to make variety registration and DNA fingerprinting mandatory for the approval of agricultural commodity types.

The minister said that the current government was paying special attention to the production of quality seeds so that we can increase the agricultural production per acre with world-class seeds, which will also increase domestic exports.

On the occasion, Secretary Agriculture emphasised on introducing modern harvesting technology. The DNA fingerprints are essential to ensure protection of pure seeds and breeders' rights, he said, adding that the agricultural scientists discover varieties that can be profitable for five years or more in the field while keeping production costs low. He said that new varieties of crops with resistance were being prepared so that the attack of diseases on the crops was minimised and the agricultural production per acre can be increased. 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. The Agriculture Secretary declared the DNA fingerprinting report mandatory to protect the rights of pure seeds and breeders' rights. In the meeting, Punjab Seed Council, including Special Secretary Agriculture (Marketing) Punjab Kulsoom Hai, MD Punjab Seed Corporation Shan-ul-Haq and a large number of members and breeders from public and private sectors participated.