Drive against weed in August

LAHORE: The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) will start a campaign of weed eradication in the first week of August.

All the employees of the department will participate in the campaign as per the directives of Secretary Agriculture Wasif Khurshid. The Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) will set up committees at village level to make the forthcoming weed eradication campaign a success.

The committees will comprise lumberdar, patwaris, officials of the department and notables from other walks of the society. The committees will support the farmers in the process of eradication of weed from the farms. They will also collaborate with other welfare organisations to educate the growers about damages caused by weeds.

For this purpose, a master training workshop was organised on Monday at Agriculture House, in which experts explained how weed was harmful for plants and the methods of eradication of weed. Lahore Division Director Shair Muhammad Sharwat along with high officials of agriculture (ext) department attended the workshop.

The campaign was part of off-season management formula of the Punjab government. The target was to increase overall profitability of farmers. A spokesperson for Punjab agriculture department has said that weeds not only compete with other crops in growth but also they were considered best debris places for harmful insects. So, eradication of weed will give farmers a space for better production and even during next cotton season, chances of harmful insect attack will be diminished.