LAHORE: Secretary Agriculture Punjab Iftikhar Ali Sahoo reiterated on Friday that the federal government has issued directives to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to immediately start purchasing cotton to ensure a price of Rs 8500 per maund to the growers.

He was speaking at a divisional review meeting at Multan which was also attended by the Secretary of Agriculture Southern Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel and other high-ups.

During a briefing, the Secretary was informed that the department had confiscated fake pesticides worth Rs 137.5 million in the Multan division since January 01, 2023.

While legal action is also being taken against those involved in this heinous crime. Secretary of Agriculture directed to accelerate of the campaign against fake pesticides and registering cases against those involved in this business under the MPO act.

The meeting was also informed that 28 ginning factories were working in the Multan division and picking of early sown cotton is underway. The Secretary directed all the ginning factories to make a daily report of the arrival of cotton in their factories, stock position and quality of the crop.

DG Agriculture (Pest Warning) Punjab Rana Faqeer Ahmad said that the overall health of the cotton crop in Multan Division was good but an attack of white fly had been witnessed in Khanewal, Mian Channu and Vehari while Thrips attack had been observed in Lodhran. However, this attack was still below the economic threshold, he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023