Daily Times

MUZAFFARGARH: Officers and field staff of extension and plant protection directorates of the agriculture department attended a one-day training workshop at Zila council hall here Tuesday to have their knowledge and skills refreshed on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology for biological control of pests on cotton crops.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (technical) South Punjab Dr. Haidar Karrar gave a detailed briefing to officials on modern cotton production technology and the IPM model to control enemy pests.

He said that experiments last year showed early sowing of triple-gene cotton varieties delivered the best production results.

He advised farmers to prefer triple gene varieties including CKC-1, CKC-3, Ghauri-2, CKC-6, CKC-5, Hatf-3 and ICS-386 pleading they possessed better resistance against pests and diseases and give good yields.

He said the workshop was aimed at improving officials’ capacity to extend proper guidelines to farmers on early cotton sowing and IPM technology.

Farmers should complete early cotton sowing by Mar 31 and treat the seed with some anti-fungus pesticide before sowing. Do not apply any pesticides during the first 60 days of the crop, the deputy secretary said.

Deputy director of Agriculture Muhammad Iqbal Khan Niazi suggested deep ploughing for land preparation.

Assistant Director of Plant Protection Khawaja Abdul Hayee Abid briefed officials on nurturing friendly pests and killing enemy pests through IPM technology.

Assistant directors extension Malik Abdur Razaq, Mian Muhammad Afzaal Qureshi, Rana Muhammad Ejaz, Malik Wajid Ali and their field staff were present.