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LAHORE, Feb 25 (APP):Provincial Minister for Agriculture, Livestock, and Chairman Punjab Seed Council, Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani chaired the 60th meeting of the Punjab Seed Council held at Agriculture House.
During the meeting, five new varieties of wheat (Champion, Falak, Sawera, Wafaq and Chenab), five new varieties of cotton (Tara, FH-416, Najibi PF, CEMB-AAS 3), four new varieties of potato and six new varieties of rice were approved.
The meeting was attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Usama Khan Leghari and Secretary Agriculture Punjab, Iftikhar Ali Sahoo.
Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said that under the leadership of the chief minister, the government is committed to providing farmers with high-quality and certified seeds. He emphasised that the government’s focus is on eliminating fake and adulterated seeds while increasing per-acre crop yield.
The provincial minister directed the Punjab Seed Council not to approve any new seed variety that is already available in the market. He also ordered the shortlisting of all cotton seed varieties and the presentation of the top three varieties. Furthermore, he reaffirmed his commitment to improving Punjab Seed Corporation under the reform agenda, ensuring that all work should be done on merit.
He directed that the next meeting of the Punjab Seed Council be convened in March and that future meetings should be held after every three months.
Secretary Agriculture Punjab, Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, highlighted the key role of the private sector in the seed business, said that formulating any policy without the involvement of the private sector would not be in the best interest of the agriculture sector.
The meeting was also attended by Director General Research, Sajid Rehman; Regional Director, Federal Seed Certification, Muhammad Shafiq; Deputy Managing Director, Shamshad Asghar Warraich; Director General Agricultural Information Punjab, Naveed Asmat Kahloon; members of the Punjab Seed Council, scientists and other officials.