VEHARI, Aug 21: The second high volume instrument (HVI) lab was installed here at the PCGA office near the cotton research station, Sharqi Colony, on Monday. After inaugurating the lab, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) chairman Mohammad Azam Warraich told newsmen that lab had been installed to ensure production of contamination-free cotton in this area. Work to install such a lab in Rahim Yar Khan was under way, he said.

He said each HVI lab cost about Rs250 million, and the federal government had allocated about Rs71 million for setting up these labs in various parts of the country.

He said the country’s entire cotton crop was picked by hand, and it had good fiber properties. After ginning it contained trash averaging seven to eight per cent, which some times increased to more than 12 per cent. In the machine-picked cotton, the trash percentage was up to 30 per cent, but when packed in bales, it was reduced to two to four per cent.

There are two types of trash — organic and inorganic. Organic trash comes from a plant itself such as leaves, bark, sticks, grass or any part of foliage etc., while inorganic trash consists pieces of any metal, jute, strings, dust and paper polypropylene.

The PCGA chairman said till 2000, the cotton contamination was recorded from 25 gram to 40 gram per bale, which was very high compared to other cotton producing countries. To control this situation, the government had imposed a ban on the use of jute bags for the supply of cottonseed, which brought good results, he said.

He said this HVI lab was the second lab after Multan in south Punjab. Technical assistance would be provided by the Pakistan Cotton Standards Institute, Karachi. He said the Export Promotion Bureau provided funds for this lab.

He said the lab would benefit the growers of Vehari and its adjoining districts, including Khanewal, Pakpattan, Lodhran and Sahiwal.

The lab started functioning on Monday, and Rs50 has been fixed for each test.