Lahore: The Punjab Agriculture department has issued an advisory for cotton growers, urging them to adopt proper practices for clean cotton picking and prevent contamination of the crop.
A spokesman for the department said here on Monday that as per the advisory, cotton picking should begin at 10: 00 a.m. after the night dew has dried from the plants and cotton bolls.
This practice will help prevent discoloration and reduce moisture-related problems during the ginning process, he added.
He further said that cotton picking should be stopped at 4: 00 p.m and pickers should begin with fully opened bolls at the lower portion of the plant and gradually move upward to prevent dry leaves from mixing with the picked cotton.
Spokesman stated that cotton should also be properly removed from the bolls during picking.
The department advised that cotton picking baskets or cloths should be made of cotton, while picked seed cotton should be placed on clean and dry cotton cloth.
The advisory stressed that seed cotton must be protected from contamination. Moisture, immature bolls, trash, ropes, twine, hair and other impurities should not be allowed to mix with the cotton.
Spokesman said, “All such contaminants should be manually removed before the seed cotton is transported to warehouses.”
Women engaged in cotton picking have also been advised to properly cover their heads with a cloth to prevent human hair from mixing with the cotton.
The department further advised that, after picking, seed cotton should be exposed to sunlight for one to two days to reduce its moisture content to an appropriate level.
