Punjab Agriculture Department Stresses Clean Cotton Picking
Punjab Agriculture Department has issued an advisory for cotton growers, urging them to adopt proper practices for clean cotton picking and prevent contamination of the crop.
According to the advisory:
- Cotton picking should begin at 10:00 AM after the night dew has dried from the plants and cotton bolls.
- Picking should stop at 4:00 PM, and pickers should start with fully opened bolls at the lower portion of the plant, gradually moving upward to avoid dry leaves.
- Cotton should be properly removed from the bolls during picking. Baskets or cloths used for picking should be made of cotton, and picked seed cotton should be placed on clean and dry cotton cloth.
- Seed cotton must be protected from contamination. Impurities like moisture, immature bolls, trash, ropes, twine, hair, and others should not be mixed with the cotton.
- Women pickers should cover their heads to prevent hair from mixing with the cotton.
- After picking, seed cotton should be exposed to sunlight for one to two days to reduce moisture content.
Source: UrduPoint (September 10, 2026)
