LAHORE: The Agriculture Department has instructed cotton growers in the Bahawalpur division to continue irrigating their fields until Oct 10 as a precautionary measure against pest attacks, particularly whitefly.

During a meeting held at the circuit house in Bahawalpur, chaired by Agriculture Secretary Iftikhar Sahoo, it was revealed that Bahawalpur division is expected to produce 3.5 million bales of cotton from 2.13 million acres during the current season. It was also said that 55 percent of the produce would be harvested by Oct 15.

Farmers have been advised to continue irrigating their fields until Oct 10 as part of a strategy to minimize the risk of pest attacks.

Agricultural authorities say that they have sprayed 60,000 acres of land against whitefly attacks in the cotton region, which consists of three divisions in Punjab, using helicopters and drones.

The meeting said that field formations are actively providing technical guidance to farmers on proper cotton care, and all available means of communication are being used to convey these recommendations.

Mr Sahoo urged the relevant officers to enforce the Cotton Control Act, as the quality of cotton is being adversely affected by pollution, and global market prices are lower. He said that field officers should continue their efforts to manage cotton production to the fullest extent possible.

Furthermore, Mr Sahoo said that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan would be engaged immediately to ensure that growers receive the minimum support price.

Regarding reports of some ginners not reporting their purchases of raw cotton to evade taxes, the secretary requested the identification of ginning units involved in under-invoicing. Timely action should be taken against them because unrecorded cotton would not be included in statistics at any level.

The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary of Task Force Shabir Ahmed Khan, Bahawalpur Commissioner Dr Ehtesham Anwar, deputy commissioners Zaheer Anwar Jappa, Shakeel Ahmed Bhatti and Zulfiqar Ali Bhawan, consultant (extension) Dr Anjum Ali Buttar, cotton ginners association chairman Waheed Arshad, and others.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2023