Steps on to increase per acre cotton production: minister

MULTAN: The Punjab government is taking steps to increase per acre cotton production according to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Provincial Minister for Agriculture Hussain Jehania Gardezi.

Addressing a reception in his honour arranged by Dera Ghazi Khan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi here, the minister said that cotton production had been declining for the last many years, which was also shrinking foreign exchange due to increasing dependency on import of cotton.

The government had two prime tasks, including saving the foreign exchange by increasing cotton production, he added. The minister said that the textile industry was booming under the better strategy of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the sector was working in two shifts round-the-clock.

DGKCCI president Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi said that the area under cotton cultivation in south Punjab was declining due to the farmers’ shifting to sugarcane crop. At present, the textile sector had to buy cotton from abroad to meet its need, he added. Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi added that there was no doubt that the federal and provincial governments were sincerely working for the betterment of agriculture.