April 06, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1428

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MULTAN, April 5: Rules and regulations will be finalised during the current month for the approval of bio-technology (BT) cotton. “The public and private sectors may apply to the Environment Ministry for the approval of the new variety,” says Doctor Rozina Tufail, a member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

She was presiding over the last session of a three-day meeting of the agriculture research committee of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, here on Thursday.

Participants of meeting were Agriculture Development Commissioner Dr Qadir Bakhsh Baloch, Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) director Muhammad Arshad, Sakrand Cotton Research Institute head Dr Ahmed Ali Baloch, PCCC research director Dr Zahoor Ahmed Baloch, Faisalabad CRI director Dr Noorul Islam, National IPM Coordinator from Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, WWF’s Dr. Nasir Mehmood Nasir, Nuclear Institute for Biogenetic Engineering director Dr Yousaf Zaffar, CEMB director Dr Tayyab, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association representative Shahid Mazhar, heads of breeding sections of the Agriculture University, Fasialabad and Agriculture College, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, farmers and agriculture officers of all research institutes.

They discussed the registration procedure of BT Cotton and protection of environment, National IPM Program, selection of cotton varieties for NCVT, Borewala Leaf Curl Virus, obtaining of clean cotton, certain other projects and their results.

The meeting was told that work to control cotton pest `milli bug’ had almost been completed while new verities having resistance against the curl leaf virus would be introduced sooner.