Daily Times

Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) has introduced bud-chip technology for sugarcane planting in order to enhance the per-acre crop output of major cash crops, besides enhancing the farm income of the growers and reducing the cost of input.

The innovative technology was developed by National Sugar and Tropical Horticulture Research Institute of PARC, which was a step to introduce modern trends in the agriculture sector, said a Director-General South Agriculture Research Center of PARC Dr Attaullah Khan.

He said that in order to highlight the salient features of the method, a mega farmers gathering was also organized, which was attended by a large number of local farmers, field extension workers and other stakeholders involved in sugarcane production and value addition.

He said that the bud chip method was a modern trend in the agriculture sector and was in need of time, adding that agriculture in other parts of the world has moved towards the latest mechanized cultivation methods but we still adhered to primitive methods.

The bud chip method of sugarcane cultivation would get popularity among sugarcane growers in future because of its high scope for boosting sugarcane yield. He also lauded the efforts of the scientists and said that innovation would make sugarcane planting very convenient and time-saving for the growers through the introduction of sugarcane seedling transplanter.

Speaking on the occasion progressive grower of Sindh Aaqib Khan Jatoi said that modern and mechanized techniques of sugarcane cultivation were being used all over the world but the country was far behind in this regard and still going after the conventional methods.