84 new seed varieties approved

LAHORE:In line with the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, for the first time, DNA fingerprint report varieties have been approved to achieve the agricultural production targets, which will enable not only the acquisition of pure seeds but registered breeders could be able to get the royalties by the federal government.

This was stated by Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi, Provincial Minister for Agriculture while talking to media after presiding over the 55th meeting of Punjab Seed Council at Agriculture House, on Monday.

The meeting approved 84 new varieties of public and private sector agricultural commodity out of total 100. As many as 66 varieties of maize, millet, walnut, avocade and other fruits out of 67 while 18 varieties of cotton were given approval out of 33 while total 16 varieties were not approved due to DNA fingerprint report or other unavoidable reasons.

On the occasion, Punjab Minister for Agriculture Hussain Jahanian Gardezi congratulated the agricultural scientists on the development of new varieties and directed them to further improve the research trials by introducing DNA fingerprinting. The provincial minister further said that previous governments had forgotten the importance of agriculture and seeds.

Punjab Agriculture Secretary Asad Rehman Gilani while instructing to maintain quality in discovering new varieties of agricultural commodities said that instead of discovering more varieties, they should concentrate to increase the production per acre. He emphasised on the introduction of modern harvesting technology as well. The meeting was attended by Aptma, Director General (Research) and experts from the private sector.