FAISALABAD, May 23: A committee of agricultural scientists has been constituted for preparing plans to control new strains of lethal leaf curl virus attack on cotton crop.

The committee was constituted at a meeting presided over by Punjab Minister for Agriculture Khurshid Zaman Qureshi at the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute on Thursday.

Eminent agricultural scientists from the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute, the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, the National Institute for Biology and Genetic Engineering, the University of Agriculture and the Cotton Research Institute attended the meeting.

The scientists discussed in details the virus restraint and susceptible varieties of cotton. The meeting was informed that owing to the combination of viruses new strains were emerging.

The emergence of new strains, Burewala virus, was also discussed. The scientists made a number of proposals for tackling the situation and to save the cotton production from damage.

They highlighted the importance of screening of germplasm of cotton varieties and adoption of quarantine laws. They also suggested setting up of virus warning and scouting system and the need to develop transgenic plants to control the cotton viruses.

They also proposed use of latest testing methods to identify different strains of the virus. They also stressed the need for better coordination among provincial and federal research institutes to streamline research activities.

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