The Punjab Agriculture Department has advised growers to start picking cotton after 40 to 50 percent bolls are matured. A spokesman of the department said on Monday that cotton picking should be done from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm so that 'phutti' could be saved from the effects of dew besides keeping picking duration from 15 to 20 days.
He said women should wrap cotton cloth around their heads to ensure pollution free cotton. He advised to start cotton picking from one direction in a row so that leaves and branches of cotton plants could not mix up. He said different varieties of cotton should be kept separate on cloth after picking and put it in sunlight for one or two days so that moisture could be brought to a proper level. He asked growers to follow these instructions strictly to get better price of the crop in market.