Cotton output target to be achieved

Federal Minister for Food Agriculture & Livestock Sikander Hayat Bosan has said the country will achieve the cotton production target of 14 million bales despite mealy bug and cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) attack.

Though 0.1 million acres area of cotton crop has been affected by mealy bug and CLCV, blooming hopes and strong anticipation are still there that the country will achieve the production target.

Mealy bug attack on cotton crop in Pakistan had been taking place in recent years, so there was no pesticide which could effectively eradicate this deadly pest. Bosan said scientist was working hard to develop effective pesticides to control mealy bug, whereas foreign experts were also being hired to evolve an efficient mechanism to eliminate this menace.

Similarly, no preventive method could be developed so far in order to treat CLCV, however, scientist were developing disease resistant seed varieties in order to curb these threats.

He said that Government was in favour of introducing Bt cotton cultivation in the country, but through formal means and in this regard MINFAL had finalized a strategy to regulate genetically modified (GM) plant varieties, including Bt cotton.