Cotton Production seminar was organized by Multan Central Cotton Research Institute aimed to promote the cotton related business and agriculture research. Keeping in line, agriculture experts and cotton growers pledged the government to allocate one per cent GDP for agriculture research from the current allocation of 0.2 per cent.
19 endorsements made on seminar and pledged the government, growers and the industry to jointly make efforts to achieve this year’s production target of 15 million bales by using modern technology. It should make sure high-quality agriculture inputs at minimum prices and tumbling the exports of fertilizers and pesticides.
Minister National Food Security and Research Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, earlier speaker National Assembly Syed Fakhar Imam, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asif Ali, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Punjab Minister Hussain Jehania Gardezi, cotton commissioner Khalid Abdullah, CCRI director Zahid Mehmood and others also beam on the seminar.
The government should endow financial and technical aid on anticipation of pink bollworm. The cotton industry is supposed to initiate split prices for different grades of cotton and the federal government must make sure cotton prices to the growers according to the international market.
Government to ensure gas supply to fertilizer factories. The Pak-Arab factory has been closed for two years due to unavailability of gas. The prices of fertilizers have increased from 30 to 50 per cent crop per yield; hence gas supply is compulsory to the fertilizers’ plants for crop survival.
The seminar participants appealed to the government to stop the spread of urbanization to save agriculture ecology. “The government should play its role to stable the prices of potato.” And the provincial governments to furnish the agriculture sector with most modern technology to bolster the cotton business and strengthen the economy.