Call for balanced use of fertiliser to boost cotton and wheat output

There would have been a big green revolution in Pakistan, had the government spent Rs 24 billion on agricultural sector which was spent on the import of wheat and we would be self-sufficient in wheat, cotton, and oil-seeds, said the farmers while addressing a seminar on cotton "Importance of Phosphetic Fertilisers on Cotton crop," organised by Pak-Arab Fertilisers, Multan, and chaired by Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Ahmed Ali Aulakh.
The speakers, Muhammad Anjum, Butter Director General Agri (Ext) Punjab, Mian Muhammad Anwar of CCRI, Hammad Raza, Nadeem Tariq, General Manager Marketing, Dr Shahid Mehmood Director Soil-Fertility, Dr Muhammad Arshad Director of CCRI stressed the need for using the fertilisers in recommended amount and adopting the integrated fertilisers using programme.
They said that our farmers can increase their cotton and wheat production by 33/34 percent by using balanced fertilisers and modern technology and their production could touch 31 to 31.5 maund per acre.
They said that farmers can earn more by spending more on recommended fertilisers, seed, and pesticides. If they spend Rs 4 billion on their inputs and they could easily get Rs 21 billion to 25 billion in return. They were unanimous on this point that there was no scope for the absentee landlord now only present farmer could earn more and more.
They said that farmers should not neglect the cotton crop which runs the hundreds of textile, spinning, weaving mills, garment factories, ginning factories, oil mills, etc and earn more than Rs 220 billion.
It was the main instrument to end the poverty. They said that in spite of shifting of rural population to urban areas, more than 67 percent people are still attached with the agricultural economy. Ishtiaq Hussain Jaffery, chairman, Small Land Holdings said the government was receiving 26 percent taxes on inputs and 35 percent on pesticides. He said that agriculture sector was badly hit due to the non-availability of irrigation water.
Now they are forced to get water at Rs 300 per hour from the power tube-wells and Rs 400/hour from diesel tube-wells. He said that previous government did nothing for the betterment of the farmers, but it got published publicity ads of tall claims. The seminar was attended by the farmers of Multan, Vehari, Muzaffargarh, DG Khan districts.