MULTAN

Seed Act has been passed by the Senate and it will be presented to the parliament soon while Plant Breeder Rights Bill will also be tabled very soon.
Federal Minister National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan stated while addressing a seminar on the management of Pink Bollworm here on Monday.
The minister said that the government is fully aware of farmers' problems and efforts are being made to resolve them. He added that it is the government's top priority to bring production cost down and increase the profit of grower. "The government has cut the DAP prices down while the GST ratio has also been brought as down as 7.5 percent," he pointed out. He declared that the prices of agricultural inputs would further be decreased in coming years.
Speaking on the occasion, Senior Joint Secretary Rubina Wasti said that the pink bollworm badly affected cotton crop which delivered severe loss to national economy. She pointed out that Pakistan was located in the middle of different markets and we could brought an economic revolution in the country by exploring these markets. She said that the government had adopted all out measures to ensure a bumper crop next year.
Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah briefed the participants of the cotton situation in the country. He said that unprecedented rains badly affected cotton crop in Punjab this year.
He added that the growers did not care for plant protection as a result of which the attack of harmful pests increased.
The participants of the seminar developed unanimous recommendations, asking the growers to bury the remains of the crop after picking cotton, refrain from cotton sowing before May 1 and if any kind of BT cotton is sowed it should be sprayed with pink bollworm killer pesticides.