Agriculture: A water bed for cotton

The machine is prepared by the Water Management and Research Centre.

FAISALABAD: The Punjab Agriculture Department has prepared a modern ‘Bed Planting Machine’ for the cultivation of cotton crop on planks in the field. According to Agriculture Department officials, the machine was prepared by the Water Management and Research Centre. The centre is a subsidiary of the Agriculture Department and the new machine will help save irrigation water by up to 50 per cent. “This will allow us to use the water for other crops,” said Agriculture Department official Riaz Sultan. He said that the cultivation of crops on planks was proving successful in a number of countries and better crops could be cultivated by utilising the same technique in Pakistan. Efforts are being made to make this machine easily available in the local market for farmers.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2011.