Daily Times

The agriculturists have advised growers to prefer cultivation of BT cotton varieties along with 10 per cent area of non-BT cotton crops to save it from pest attacks. A spokesman for Agriculture Extension Department said on Tuesday that the government had set a target of 200,000 acres for bringing it under cotton cultivation this year, and for the purpose, the department was also providing subsidy of Rs 1000 per bag of approved and certified cotton seed and the farmers could purchase cotton seed from Punjab Seed Corporation on subsidized rates. He said that the experts have recommended 17,500 to 20,000 plants of cotton in one acre if the crop was cultivated from April 20 to May 10. Therefore, the farmers should choose fertile land for cotton cultivation and ensure presence of 17,500 to 20,000 cotton saplings in a field to get its bumper yield. They should also cultivate approved BT Cotton varieties including IUB-13, MNH-886, BS-15, NIAB-878 and FH-142 along with non-BT varieties on 10 percent area so that resistance of BT varieties could be made strong against pest attack, he added.