MIRPURKHAS, Dec 14: The experiment of harvesting contamination-free cotton has been successful and it has been found that the growers can also increase their yield with lesser expenses.

These views were expressed by speakers at a seminar organized by the Agriculture Extension Department at the Horticulture Research Institute here on Saturday.

The seminar was held under the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programme.

Speaking on the occasion, the secretary agriculture, Sindh, Aftab Ahmed Qureshi, said that growers can maximize their output by adopting modern techniques and using very little amounts of pesticides and fertilizers.

Stressing on the need for adequate water usage under the advice of agriculture experts and proper use of pesticides and fertilizers, he said that the growers should pay more attention to land levelling.

He said that 18 land levelling machines were available in Sindh while th provincial government was seeking 100 more machines from the federal government.

He said that despite shortage of water in Sindh, the per acre yield could be increased by optimally using available water.

The provincial secretary said that Sanghar and Ghotki districts have been selected for production of contamination-free cotton and Mirpurkhas district would also be included in this category next year.

The district Nazim said that the contamination-free cotton would play an important role in the national economic development, adding that growers would then be able to get reasonable price for their produce.

He said that cotton had been cultivated over 45,000 hectares in Mirpurkhas district.

Dr A. N. Abul Naga said that the IPM programme ensured insect-free crops.

He urged for growing pollution-free crops for better human health and said that the IPM Programme was being used in six other countries, adding that the European Union had recently agreed to allocate more grant after reviewing the performance of the programme.

Dr Iftikhar Ahmed said that the experiment of growing cotton without using pesticides had been carried out in Khairpur and Sakrand districts this year.

Training was imparted to some 50 agriculture experts and 500 growers during the past year, while 2,000 farmers have been included in this programme this year, he said.

These trained workers, he added, would revolutionize the agricultural sector in Sindh.