Punjab government has no objection on including Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP) as member/observer of the Punjab Seed Council. Nevertheless, a final decision in this regard will be taken in the next meeting of the provincial seed council, said the Punjab Minister for Agriculture Malik Ahmad Ali Aulakh here on Tuesday. Aulakh was meeting the representatives of the Seed Association of Pakistan (SAP) in Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB).
The meeting was also attended by the Punjab Seed Council Managing Director Altaf Aizad Khan, Chairman SAP Shahzad Ali Malik, Director General Agriculture (Extension) Dr. Anjum Ali and Director General (Agri Research) Dr Noor ul Islam. Addressing the participants, Punjab Agriculture Minister said that 700 seed companies approved by the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department are working in the country out of which 600 are registered in Punjab province. However, he regretted that if all the legal requirements are fulfilled then only around 200 companies were working as per law.
The Minister stressed the need for kicking out black sheep in seed business so as the growers could get quality certified seeds on cheaper rates. He said that the Punjab government was taking all out steps to resolve the issues faced by the growers. He claimed the credit of good production in all the crops including cotton, wheat, rice, potatoes and others saying that it is a proof of pro-farmer policies of the present provincial government.
