HYDERABAD, Jan 19: Agriculture research facilities in the province will be strengthened to evolve high-yield varieties of crops, certified seeds of which will be provided to farmers by the reactivated Sindh Seed Corporation.

This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim during a presentation about the seed corporation in Sakrand on Thursday.

He said the seed corporation had been revived in the interest of the farming community and a board had been constituted to ensure efficient operation and monitoring of the seed industry in the public sector.

The chief minister stressed the need for rightsizing the seed corporation keeping in view the interest of the organization. He said action would be taken against those who were involved in malpractice.

He directed the secretary for irrigation to solve the problem of water availability at seed and research farms of the agriculture department. He directed police officers to remove encroachments over the farms.

The adviser to the chief minister on food and agriculture, Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, also attended the presentation.

Earlier, the management board of the seed corporation met under the chairmanship of Abdul Jabbar Pathan and discussed matters concerning certified seed production and distribution in the province.

The meeting was informed that following restructuring of the corporation, it would be converted into a profitable and useful organization by providing it with certified seeds of wheat, cotton and paddy.

The meeting also reviewed the progress of wheat sown on farms of the corporation.

It was informed that a Rs383.556 million development scheme had been prepared for rehabilitation of a seed plant, development of seed farms, procurement and sale of certified seed etc.

The meeting was attended by agriculture secretary Nazar Hussain Mahar, growers’ representatives Mohammad Aslam, Gada Hussain Mahessar, Omer Farooq and Abdul Ghani Dars and representatives of the Punjab Seed Corporation, Federal Seed Certification Department and the private seed industry.