By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, April 28 (INP-WealthPK): The agriculture department of the Punjab province is using contemporary technologies and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to improve cotton crop management and field performance. Talking about new methods for boosting cotton production, Dr Saleem, a teacher at the University of Punjab, told WealthPK that the Centre for Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB) has produced and commercialised cotton types like CKC one, two and three. He said the provincial government is helping disseminate cotton varieties produced at the CEMB to farmers across the country. He said that funding agencies and hundreds of researchers at CEMB have been working on cotton variety creation as it is a valuable cash crop in Pakistan, supporting hundreds of thousands of farming families and communities. Dr Saleem said that cotton is susceptible to a variety of pests and diseases, as well as weed infestations. “To control and manage them, a variety of strategies are available. This includes bio-control agents, pheromones and hormones; plant breeding and cultivar selection; various cultural and mechanical techniques; the use of traditional pesticides (both natural and synthetic); and, more recently, the use of genetically modified plants.” “Seed traceability via fingerprinting is the key to seed quality control,” he said. It is necessary to mention here that cotton is Pakistan's second-largest crop after wheat. However, the crop has been subjected to severe external pressures such as climate change, and biotic and abiotic challenges, resulting in significant economic losses. As a result, the crop production has decreased significantly, and Pakistan has to rely on imports to meet the demands of its burgeoning textile sector. Farmers have also been compelled to replace cotton with other crops for a variety of reasons. According to the University of Punjab teacher, cotton's lesser profitability when compared to other cash crops like sugarcane, maize, and rice has also contributed to its decline. In Punjab, for example, overall returns to investment for sugarcane and rice are Rs237 and Rs225 per day, respectively, compared to Rs209 for cotton, he explained. Dr Saleem said synthetic pesticides are widely used in crop protection, and their unsuitable or improper application can harm human health, and damage water supplies, food crops, and the environment in general. In view of this, a consistent effort in sustainable cotton production is critical to meeting domestic and export demands. Many methodologies, strategies and policies are being studied in order to generate new and resistant germplasms for the long-term development of Pakistan's cotton sector. It is also to be noted here that the government’s Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) has been collaborating with the WWF-Pakistan for a decade to assist farmers in producing cotton in a more sustainable manner. Staff at the project’s offices in Punjab and Sindh regularly organise meetings of farmers to give them technical advice on cultivating right varieties and boosting production.