MULTAN:Secretary Agriculture South Punjab Saqib Ali Ateel on Friday paid visits to cotton fields in Khanewal and its tahsil Mianchannu to monitor activities of field formations and the status of cotton crops with particular reference to the application of environment-friendly Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology to counter pest attack.

Saqib specifically visited cotton demonstration plots where IMP technology was in the play and experts demonstrated pest scouting of crop friendly and enemy pests in the presence of a good number of farmers for their orientation. Experts also demonstrated techniques of plant mapping, and plant population per acre for farmers’ guidance.

The Secretary Agriculture also met with farmers who were developing cotton plots employing IMP technology and gave them further insight into the environment-friendly method of IPM. Farmers appeared immensely interested in the IPM and put many queries to the secretary who responded with detailed answers supported by research-based statistics.

Saqib said that IPM model was also being replicated on other crops to reduce farmers’ unnecessary cost on pesticides and make agriculture more profitable and environment-friendly.

He advised the farmers to counter white fly incidence preferably by applying bio-pesticides and install 8-10 yellow sticky cards per acre. “We have to protect each and every single cotton boll to get desired production target from cultivated area.”

He said that pesticides should be opted as a last resort and that too in consultation with agriculture officials after a process of pest scouting to know exact ratio of the presence of crop-friendly and enemy pests.