STAFF REPORT IBD: In order to find out solution to the overcome the cotton diseases, scientists and farmers from Pakistan and US would work together. These diseases have infected cotton throughout Pakistans cotton belt and can substantially reduce yields and incomes for farmers.

In this connection, a two-day workshop was also in coordination with Pakistans Ministry of Textile and Industry and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) last week. The workshop is part of the U.S government sponsored Cotton Productivity Enhancement Programme.

During the workshop, Todd Drennan, US. Agriculture Counselor, said, “Agriculture touches so many lives in Pakistan and is a vital part of Pakistans economy. The US wants to help enhance the productivity of Pakistans agricultural sector, especially small farmers.”

The visiting US technical team also met Pakistani cotton scientists to discuss the results of research on CLCV. They also visited cotton breeding trails in Faisalabad and Multan. As a result of these trails, which are funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) the team reported good news that some new varieties of cotton are showing preliminary signal of resistance to CLCV.

Small farmers are especially vulnerable to the economic impacts caused by this disease. Because of this, the US Department of Agriculture has designed the cotton disease research project to help Pakistani farmers.

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