FAISALABAD: Growers have been advised to adopt precautionary measures before the start of picking cotton in the fields.
Cotton Department of Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI) Director Dr Sagheer Ahmed on Friday asked the farmers to ensure that about 50 percent cotton bolls had opened in the field before starting picking them so that impurities free picking of cotton could be made. He said that to avoid impurities such as dust and trash mixing in the seed cotton, the picking should be done from lower side towards top which leads to clean cotton picking. He said that picking of cotton should be done after drying of humidity and dew drops from the crop. He said that timely picking of cotton must be followed and after first picking interval of 15-20 days should be maintained for second picking. He asked the growers to store picked cotton on plain cotton cloth to save it from humidity or impurities. He said that different varieties of picked cotton should be stored separately.