HYDERABAD, Sept 27: Wheat will be sown on 890,000 hectares in Sindh during the current Rabi season. Arrangements for supply of good quality seed to farmers were discussed at a meeting here on Monday.

Sindh Agriculture Secretary Nazar Hussain Mahar presided over the meeting.

The meeting decided that the Sindh Seed Corporation would clean and grade growers’ own wheat seed at the rate of Rs10 per 40kg.

For this purpose the seed grading plants have been established in Sakrand, Tandojam, Kotdiji and Ghotki.

The meeting was told that graded seed gave three to five maunds more yield per acre and that about 80 per cent growers kept their own wheat seed for sowing in the next season.

They have been advised to get their wheat seed graded and increase wheat production.

The secretary advised private seed companies to provide quality wheat seed to the growers at reasonable rates.

The meeting fixed the sale rate of pre-basic seed of the foundation seed cell which has different varieties at Rs720 per 40kg and certified seed of FSC and SSC at Rs680 per 50kg.

It was decided that a committee comprising representatives of the Sindh Seed Corporation, Federal Seed Certification department and private seed companies would monitor and test the seed coming from Punjab and recommend seed for cultivation on the basis of testing.

The companies trading sub-standard seed will be blacklisted.

The director-general of the agriculture research, who is also holding the charge of the managing director of the SSC, Dr Haji Khan Keerio, said that for production of good quality seed, the Foundation Seed Cell would lay down research trails right from single line to onward selection for multiplication and all stakeholders would be shown those trails.

On demand from Dr Qazi Suleman, the dean of the Sindh Agriculture University, it was decided that 150 maunds of pre-basic wheat seed would be provided to the university for multiplication.

Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani said the sowing area target should be made realistic in accordance with irrigation water availability.

The director-general of the agriculture extension, Naeem Ahmed Korejo, said due to floods in riverine katcha areas, more area would be brought under wheat cultivation this year.

POLIO: DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed has stressed upon medical officers, doctors, paramedical staff, NGOs and opinion leaders of society to launch an effective campaign for eradication of polio and to maintain status of Hyderabad as polio-free district.

He was speaking at launching of 56th 3-day round of anti-polio campaign at the rural health centre Tando Jam on Monday evening.

He said with un-tiring efforts of the district government and other collaborating organizations we have successfully wiped out P2 and P3 type of polio virus from our country and now we are fighting only against monovalent polio virus.

He was optimistic that it would be completely eradicated by the end of this year.

He said we would have to continue our anti polio campaign till Pakistan was declared polio-free country.

He said the present government was taking keen interest in eradication of polio and Hepatitis virus.

He said comprehensive plans had been chalked out by the prime minister and hoped that with participation of the people the day was not far when people of the country would be fully protected against epidemic and fatal viruses.

He said the contaminated water was one of the main causes for spreading Hepatitis and other water-born diseases as such supply of safe water to the people was being given top priority by the government to control these diseases.

He said that three water purification plants would be established in Tando Jam, of which the first will be established in November 2005, the second in February 2006 and the third will be established by the end of June 2006.

He said in addition to this a big water filter plant would be established in Tando Jam to provide safe portable water facilities to citizens of Tando Jam.

The DCO announced that the rural health centre would be upgraded upto the taluka hospital by the end of the current financial year.

He announced for providing one ambulance to the hospital.

EDO health Dr Nazar Mohammad Junejo said as many as 704 teams had been formed to vaccinate 300,000 children upto five years of age in the district.

He said besides, mobile teams for house-to-house vaccination had also been constituted and deployment has also been made at all entry points of the district to vaccinate entering children in the district.

DO health Dr Bashir Solangi, Dr Naseer Ahmed, Dr Sono Khan and Dr Akram Ghumman also spoke on the occasion.