Cotton leaf curl virus, a deadly pest, has badly hit the standing cotton crop across the country due to the use of uncertified and illegal BT cottonseeds, growers told Business Recorder on Thursday. The situation is very alarming and indicates likely occurrence of a huge cotton crisis in the country, as the pest is destroying cotton crop in Sindh and Punjab.

The country may face drought-like situation this Rabi (October-March) as heavy water withdrawals from dams draw down steeply without replenishment because of exceptionally low river flows.

Pakistan can benefit from 60 years long Chinese research in agriculture sector for superior crop varieties to meet their ever increasing national food grain requirements. Leader of the 4-member Chinese private sector delegation Dr John Liu talking to Vice Chancellor, Punjab University Professor Mujahid Kamran here Thursday, during their visit to varsity, said.

Farmers have demanded of the Punjab government to declare the district a calamity-hit area due to the heavy damages caused to the cotton crop by recent massive virus attack.

Whenever the farm crisis gets mentioned vis-

BT damage: Thirty per cent cottonseed pods of Bt cotton were damaged in Pakistan