Daily Times

Punjab Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo said on Saturday that implementation on ‘Cotton Action Plan 2023-24’ would make it possible to earn $ 3 billion foreign exchange. He said this while presiding over the meeting in Dera Ghazi Khan, said a press release issued here. The secretary said that cultivation of cotton on a large area was a challenging task for which district administration, agriculture department and other stakeholders were working together. He said that this year in Dera Ghazi Khan division, 0.971 million acres area was being brought under cotton cultivation for which the district administration was providing full support to the field staff of the agriculture department so that cotton cultivation and production targets could be achieved. While giving directions, the secretary said that irrigation department should ensure the availability of canal water during cotton cultivation besides immediately terminating canal water blockage in Dera Ghazi Khan division so that cotton sowing could be completed in time. He added the field staff of Agriculture Extension and Pest Warning should provide technical guidance and support to the farmers and must compile the data of all the farmers. “Punjab has taken several practical steps under the historical package of cotton revival this year which will make cotton a profitable crop for the farmers” he said. For encouragement of growers, Cotton Production Competition 2023 was also being organized, under which farmers who would obtain significant yield would be given cash prizes worth millions of rupees at provincial and district levels, he added. He directed to counter check cotton sowing data from revenue department, saying that cotton committees headed by deputy commissioners should hold regular weekly meetings at district level and solve the problems faced in cotton cultivation immediately and students of training institutes should be appointed to meet the staff shortfall.