MULTAN - Agriculture experts have advised farmers to complete cotton sowing by May 31 and use only registered seed varieties to get good production results.
In a statement issued here, agriculture spokesman said that farmers should sow only registered Bt varieties, however, 10 per cent area should be covered by non-Bt varieties so that pests do not develop resistance against safeguards incorporated in Bt cotton.
Registered Bt cotton varieties included IUB-13, FH-142, MNH-886, Nayab-878, BS-15 while Nayab Kiran is the non-Bt variety farmers can rely on.
Spokesman, however, added that farmers should select varieties out of the registered varieties available in accordance with local weather and soil conditions.
Fur-free seed with germination strength of 75 per cent should be applied at the rate of six (6) kilogram per acre, however, the quantity should increase to eight (8) kilogram per acre in case of seed having fur on it.
Some suitable pesticides and anti-fungus agent be also applied on the seed before sowing to keep the crop safe against the sucking pests like white fly for a month besides diseases. Plant population should be 15000-17500 per acre for cotton sown till Apr 20, however, the range should increase to 17500-20000 in case of sowing from Apr 21 to May 10.
Spokesman said that agriculture department has arranged registered seed varieties sufficient for sowing on 200,000 acre area and urged farmers to get the seed bags from Punjab Seed Corporation at a subsidized price of only Rs 1000 per bag.