Climate change impacted all important crops negatively.

MULTAN -- :Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) Director Dr Zahid Mahmood said on Wednesday that a climate change phenomenon impacted all important crops of the country negatively.

Presiding over a special meeting convened to discuss impact of climate change on crops production and to discuss remedies and measures to check it, he said that all important crops, including maize, rice, sugarcane and cotton, suffered damage at the hands of climate change phenomenon compromising their production.

Discussing cotton, he said that hotter weather conditions and unexpected rains provoked pests particularly white fly and pink bollworm which damaged crops and reduced production.

He said the CCRI Multan would launch a programme the next year to assist and guide farmers and help them out through research body's breeding material.

He said every farmer could contact the CCRI Multan experts to get information on profitable production technology and obtain certified seed of cotton.

Dr Zahid said that there were the CCRI Multan varieties of cotton that could give higher production amid weather as hot as 50 Celsius. There were also varieties that continue to give good production even if hit by Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCuV).

He said that traits of resistance against virus were being shifted from wild and Desi cotton varieties into new...