Farmers asked for clean cotton picking

LAHORE: Punjab Agriculture Secretary Wasif Khurshid has advised the farmers to start picking of cotton after 9am and end at 4pm.

If there are chances of rainfall, farmers should postpone picking of cotton, he said, adding the labourers involved in picking cotton should use cotton clothes and avoid mixing hair and other type of contaminants.

He said the agriculture officers, including female staff, were engaged in training cotton picker women according to the international standards. The agriculture secretary said that clean cotton was acceptable in the market and the contaminates-free picking always ensured profit to the farmers.

Farmers should start picking of cotton when 50 per cent bolls have become fully matured and picking should be started from lower part of the plant and gradually move upwards as it was necessary because lower bolls might get damaged or contaminated if picking was started from the upper branches of the plant.

He asked the farmers that only cotton boll should be picked from the cotton plant. Interval between one picking to another should be 15 to 20 days. The plants affected by attack of pink bollworm should be eliminated.

The secretary was of the view that the wages paid to cotton pickers should be according to cleanliness of the cotton picked so that they might be vigilant during picking process. The agriculture secretary said the department was trying its level best to get cent percent clean cotton picking so that the growers could get maximum profit from their crops.