MULTAN, Aug 17: Former National Assembly speaker Syed Fakhr Imam has deplored that the cotton growers in Pakistan are facing several challenges in production this season, including cotton leaf curl virus and mealybug attack.

In a press statement here on Friday, he said the BT cotton varieties being grown in Pakistan had no legal cover and a law had been passed to the effect.

The incidence of mealybug attack was widespread in Punjab and Sindh which were major cotton-growing areas of the country and this pest attack had already hit the cotton production, he said, adding that unavailability of effective pesticides was compounding the problem.

He said the government had failed to adopt necessary measures to minimise the mealybug threat which had been there for the past three years. The CLCV had resurfaced as a major problem for the cotton crop and its intensity was increasing with time.

Fakhr Imam said the government should adequately fund research to develop

CLCV-resistant varieties and provide anti-mealybug pesticides to avoid cotton production setback.