Pakistan Kissan Board (PKB) Punjab president Khurshid Kanju has urged upon the government to implement the recommendations of National Assembly's Standing Committee on Textile Industry to facilitate the cotton growers by giving them incentives for sowing maximum cotton for the consumption of textile industry.
In a press statement issued here on Friday, he said that cotton was cash crop of the country and the main source of foreign exchange earning. However, he said that cotton growers were in miserable condition and there was an urgent need to facilitate them.
Through provision of more facilities, the growers would be induced to produce more. Such facilities would help the country to curtail its imports and it would also help the government in its drive to save precious foreign exchange.
Better seed was playing an important role in the production of cotton and the committee recommended providing good variety of seeds to the farmers for better crops. Kanju said that government should not delay in introducing of BT cotton through multinational seed provider companies. He said that government should increase financial assistance for Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP). The TCP be directed to make the remaining payment to the cotton growers.
He asked to compile views and suggestions from all related sectors for making textile policy. The committee should constitute a sub-committee to monitor the formulation of textile policy and its implementations. He strongly condemned the baton charging the women in Islamabad and firing on a rally of power loom workers in Faisalabad and killing a worker.