April 10, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 3, 1429

LAHORE, April 9: The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association and Farmers Association of Pakistan have agreed to jointly represent to government to introduce certified Bt cotton seeds to achieve a yield of 20 million cotton bales in the shortest possible time to meet the requirements of the industry from domestic sources and dispense with dependence on imports.

The agreement was reached at a joint meeting of the representatives of FAP and Aptma Punjab Zone held here on Wednesday to discuss the issues having a bearing on the yield of the current cotton crop. The participants of the meeting decided to appeal to Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani to include supply of quality cotton seed to farmers in his 100-day programme.

Aptma Punjab Zone Chairman Akbar Sheikh said after the meeting had agreed that the cotton seed supply situation was in a state of utter confusion as the government departments were facing a dilemma of application of bio-safety protocol and intellectual property rights.