‘10m cotton bales production target fixed for Punjab’

MULTAN: The Punjab has fixed 10 million bales production target this year after sowing cash crop on 5.7 million acres of land.

It was said by Punjab caretaker Minister for Agriculture Sardar Tanveer Ilyas while addressing the Cotton Crop Management Group meeting at Central Cotton Research Institute here on Friday. He said that agriculture was the key to country’s progress while the province had played a key role in food security and poverty alleviation. The province had planned sowing cotton on 5.7 million acres of land to ensure production of 10 million bales and the caretaker government was consuming all resources to achieve cotton production target, he added.

The cotton was sown over 5.6 million acres during the last crop season in 2017-2018, he said. The government had provided Rs 700 subsidy on each bag of seed to the farmers in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions, he told. He said that prosperity of farmers was the top most priority of the caretaker government. The minister said that the government had decided setting up cotton research station in Rajanpur to increase per acre yield and adopting ways to reduce cost of production through research. The government had adopted zero tolerance policy against adulteration and ensuring frequent provision of all kinds of fertilisers and pesticides to the farmers on reasonable rates through regular monitoring.

The minister said that 165 FIRs had been registered against those shopkeepers involved in adulteration. The fertiliser controllers based on informers reports raided and arrested 12 violators in five raids, he disclosed. He said that crop insurance scheme had been launched in the province.

The Punjab government would have to pay 100pc premium to the farmers with land holding size to five acres while farmers of five to 20 acres would be given 50pc subsidy on crop premium, he added. Punjab Agriculture Director General Syed Zafaryab Haider and other officials were also present.