Punjab Seed Council approves 10 new varieties for general cultivation

Lahore: Punjab Seed Council has approved 10 new Bt and 2 Non-Bt cotton varieties for general cultivation in Punjab. The approved Bt varieties of cotton are FH Lalazaar, MNH-988, BH-184, VH-305, AGC-777, CEMB-33, BS-52, IUB-13, MM-58 and Leader-1and Non-Bt varieties are CYTO-124 and NIAB-2008. The approval of other 5 cotton Bt varieties has been bounded with the permission of National Bio Safety Commission. The approval was granted in 46^th meeting of Punjab Seed Council chaired by Minister for Agriculture Punjab, Dr. Farrukh Javed. The meeting was held at Agriculture House, Lahore.

The Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Farrukh Javed congratulated the Scientists for evolving these new Bt and Non-Bt cotton varieties and appreciated their contribution in agriculture sector. He said that according to the vision of Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, the Agricultural Scientists need to work hard and should evolve latest high yielding varieties of other crops to make country self-sufficient in agricultural commodities, paving way for increasing agricultural exports for earning precious foreign exchange. He said that we have to adopt with the ever changing environment and climate change. The fruit of scientists’ research must reach the hardworking farmer in his field, he added.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary Agriculture Muhammad Mehmood, Secretary Punjab Seed Council, Khaqan Babar, Director General Agriculture (Research) Punjab, Dr, Abid Mehmood, Director Central Cotton Research Institute Multan, Dr, Sajid Hassan Shah, Director Cotton Research Institute AARI, Faisalabad Dr, Sagher Ahmad, Director NIBGE, Faisalabad Dr. Muhammad Shahid, Director Agricultural Information Punjab, Muhammad Rafiq Akhtar, Agricultural Experts and Cotton Breeders.