Hybrid varieties to be promoted to get maximum crops production: minister

MULTAN: Punjab Minister Agriculture Syed Hussein Jehania Gardezi Saturday said efforts were underway to promote hybrid varieties to achieve maximum production from crops and enhance per acre yield across the province.

He said basmati varieties are the distinguishing feature of Punjab. It takes time to develop the mechanized method. The long green variety of rice has been developed and will soon be provided to the farmers for normal cultivation.

Better paddy production this year will bring a message of prosperity to farmers as rice exports are expected to grow to 3 billion.

Addressing the participants of a paddy seminar held in collaboration with a private rice company, the minister said Pakistani basmati rice is loved across the world for its aroma and quality.

This year, the paddy crop has been planted on more than 5.3 million acres. With the farmer friendly policies of the government and the hard work of the farmers, the government is expecting to achieve record yields which will increase the income of the farmers and strengthen the national economy, he said.

The minister said the agriculture sector is one of the top priorities of the government and therefore under the Prime Minister's Agricultural Emergency Program, implementation of projects worth about Rs 300 billion has been started from the current financial year. A huge amount of Rs 4 billion is being spent in Punjab to increase the production of paddy per acre under which approved varieties of seeds and modern agricultural machinery are being provided to the paddy farmers on subsidy, he said.

He said the incumbent government in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan would make the agricultural sector so active and developed that our agriculture would be able to achieve a prominent position in the local and international market in line with international requirements.

We are trying to help the farmers and reduce the production cost by promoting mechanized farming and increase the income of the farmers by increasing the yield per acre. On this occasion, the Minister of Agriculture appealed to the farmers to avoid setting fires to crops residues to protect environment.

Bahawalpur Museu : South Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Saqib Zafar Saturday said the Bahawalpur Museum is the cradle of culture of south Punjab and the treasure of history of Bahawalpur.

Visiting the under-construction building of Bahawalpur Museum, the ACS said providing entertainment opportunities to the people of the area is the main priority of the government and completion of developmental work of museum will further enhance the beauty of Bahawalpur region.

Bahawalpur Director Museum Muhammad Zubair Rabbani was also accompanied with him.

The ACS said this region is very attractive for researchers, historians and archaeologists as well as for tourists.

He said living nations always preserve and promote their history and culture. The ACS said Bahawalpur Museum is playing a very important role in the promotion of history, culture, arts and crafts.

He inspected different parts of the building.

Briefing the ACS, Director Bahawalpur Museum Muhammad Zubair Rabbani said Rs70 million are being spent on the project. After the completion of the under construction project, the number of antiquities will also be increased and special measures will be taken for the renovation of the galleries, he maintained.

BISE announces results: The Multan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Saturday declared the result of Secondary School Certificate examination 2021.

Some 133,691students applied for the exam and 130,310 attempted the exam and 129,455 passed the examination. While declaring the SSC result, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Multan controller examination Prof Ismael Taga said total numbers of 95,211 regular students attempted the exam and 94,888 passed the exam.

In regular Science Group 86,777 candidates appeared and 86,505 passed the exam.

In Humanities Group 8,434 regular candidates appeared and 8,383 passed the exam.