Farmers get subsidised traps

MULTAN: The Punjab Agriculture department is offering traps of Methyl Eugenol to eliminate fruit fly from mango orchards, Shafqat Bhutti, Executive District Officer (EDO) Agriculture, said on Monday.

He stated that over 200 mango growers were being facilitated under the scheme.  The traps are installed at different mango plants in order to control fruit flies.

The farmers owning less than 12 acres of mango orchards were being provided the traps at 50 percent subsidy, while those with 12 acres or more received a 30 percent subsidy. The farmers get the benefit of Rs1,500 / acre under the scheme. However, they would earn a lot over disease free mango fruits after eliminating the pest.

The government is offering these traps of Methyl Eugenol for 2,841 acres of mango orchards in district Multan. Fruit flies enter the mango fruit and damage its quality.

Indian mangoes have been banned in different countries due to the presence of fruit flies. However, Pakistan is exporting fine-quality, disease-free mangoes to various countries.