20000404

Sufficient seed

procured for

cotton crop

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: A spokesman for Agriculture Department said on Monday that sufficient quantity of cottonseed had been procured and kept at sale points of the Sindh Seed Corporation (SSC) and commission agents' outlets.

He said procurement of more cotton seed was being made through the Pakistan Seed Corporation (PSC). In addition to SSC, private seed companies registered with the federal government have also arranged sufficient quantity of seed available in many cities and villages.

The spokesman said the private ginners also had got tested their cotton seed from government laboratories and were selling to growers.

He said that the sale price of cotton seed was fixed by the government at a forum where representatives of growers had representation.

The spokesman contradicted all reports of sale of seed on higher prices and said, "It is appropriate to mention that the sale rate of SSC's cotton seed is equal to the rate on which cotton seed was sold during Kharif-1998. Therefore, the complaint of higher sale price is also not valid."