FAISALABAD: The participants of 75th plenary meeting of International Cotton Advisory committee (ICAC) visited Ayub Agricultural Research Institute (AARI) on Saturday.
The delegation was received by AARI Director General Dr Abid Mahmood, while agricultural scientists, experts and other staff were also present on the occasion. The delegation was taken to cotton fields, where Dr Abid briefed them about different varieties of cotton, its’ per acre production, sowing and picking time, as well as cotton diseases.
The participants took keen interest in varieties of cotton sown in different fields and also raised some questions. While briefing the delegation, Dr Abid said that Pakistan was an agrarian country and it has 4th position in cotton production in the world. He said that more than 1000 scientists were engaged in research and introducing new varieties of various agriculture crops.
He said that major developments in agriculture field were green revolution in wheat, BT cotton, Rice (Basmati, long rice), high crop intensity sugarcane revolution, Maiz (two crops in a year), seedless Kinnow, successful cultivation of oilseeds, grapes and peach in Punjab and introduction of high value date palm varieties. He said that AARI had introduced 478 varieties of different crops during last five years.
Later, the delegation was taken to main auditorium of the institute, where different stalls of agriculture research including oil seeds, wheat, pulses, vegetables, food research, horticulture and cotton were set up. A music and cultural programme as well as horse dance were also arranged.
