MULTAN:Cotton Commissioner Dr. Zahid Mahmood on Friday advocated for adopting the Low Expenditure and Environment Friendly (LEEF) technology and said that the technology could give higher production at lower cost by maintaining soil fertility to enhance its production capability.
Dr. Zahid, who is also the Director of Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) Multan and holding the additional charge as Cotton Commissioner, said this while addressing a gathering of officials and scientists through online at a training session at CCRI Multan.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Finance and Planning Malik Muhammad Sami who attended the session as special guest, said that the district government would continue to make efforts to enhance cotton production while benefiting from the expertise of CCRI Multan. We will utilize the services of CCRI’s scientists for training and guidance of cotton farmers, he said.
Dr. Zahid said, the LEEF technology does not require repeated ploughing and this way helps the soil retain beneficial germs and organic material which usually go wasted in case of excessive ploughing.
Explaining how the technology can be employed, he asked the farmers to keep the width of beds at 42 inches and furrows 18 inches. “Under this technology, the field is prepared for sowing this way only once and there was no need to prepare it every season. Husk from the paddy crop be spread on the beds to keep the soil temperature normal even during the extreme hot weather conditions. It also reduces water consumption by plants and helps meet plants’ nutritional requirements. It saves germs from being killed by sunlight, he said adding that the organic material is not only retained but its presence is improved gradually in soil”, he told.
In addition, he added to maintaining soil temperature to normal and keeping it enriched with organic material and positive germs, the husk from paddy or wheat get mixed in the soil after sometime and improve its fertility. This layer of husk on cotton producing beds also shield crop against excessive rains and prevent chances of weeds growth, he told. Dr. Zahid said that farmers should contact CCRI Multan officials for more information on LEEF technology.
Agriculture scientists Dr. Muhammad Naveed Afzal, Dr. Fayyaz Ahmad, and Dr. Rabia Saeed also gave insight to participating officials on the technology while head of transfer of technology wing Sajid Mahmood distributed literature among the participants.