PSC to market 0.15 million maunds cotton seed this year

Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) will market 0.15 million maunds cotton seed in the province during the ongoing sowing season of the silver fibre crop.
The 11 cotton varieties whose seed is being marketed this year are- CIM-443, FH-901, CIM-473, BH-160, NIAB-111, CIM-446, CIM-482, CIM-707, CIM-506, CIM-499 and FH-900.
"The inclusion of non-core areas like Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang in the cotton growing regions will help increase production of the crop," Managing Director Punjab Seed Corporation, Brigadier Amanullah Khan Niazi (Retd) told APP here on Wednesday.
He said about 45 percent of the cotton seed to be provided by PSC this year was delinted.
The prices fixed by the corporation for different cotton varieties this year are- CIM-473: Rs 825 per 20 kg bag (non- delinted) and Rs 1050 (delinted), CIM-446: Rs 800 per bag, NIAB- 999, FH-1000: Rs 925 per 20 kg bag, FH-900, FH-901, CIM-482, CIM-443: Rs 775 per 20 kg bag and CIM-499 (delinted): Rs 1250 per 20 kg bag.
To a query, Brigadier Niazi said that four new varieties included in the cotton seed basket of Punjab Seed Corporation ie BH-160, NIAB-111, CIM-707 and CIM-506 were cotton leafcurl virus (CLCV) tolerant, not resistant, and added that the research institutions needed to develop CLCV resistant varieties especially the Burewala strain of the virus that affected the cotton crop last year.
About Al-Seemi Hybrid, a variety developed by the private sector, the PSC chief said that while the corporation would always encourage private sector participation in research and breeding, however, the hybrid variety developed by a private farm did not suit the procurement policy of the corporation, as it was not economically feasible to get seed from the private sector every year.
Meanwhile, Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) has set a target of selling 45,000 maunds of paddy seed of six varieties in the province during the coming sowing season.
Paddy varieties recommended for cultivation include Basmati Super, Basmati-385, Shaheen Basmati (fine varieties) and KS-282, lrri-9 and Irri-6 (coarse varieties).