National Cotton Breeding Institute

Bahawalpur Division has historically been known for high quality cottonproduction in the country. Cotton crop is major contributor to our economyas it not only feeds our industrial sector but also generates income for ourpeople. Bahawalpur division has an outstanding position in cotton production asmore than half of cotton produced in Punjab is obtained from the division. TheIslamia University of Bahawalpur has contributed significantly by developing newcotton varieties (IUB-222, MM-58 and IUB-13)) which covered more than 50% areain this region making farmers satisfied with the yield. Considering the importanceof cotton in this region, worthy Vice Chancellor, Engr. Prof. Dr. Athar Mahboob (T.I.) has approved National Cotton Breeding Institute (NCBI) purely for developingnew techniques and varieties of cotton. The NCBI was inaugurated by former PrimeMinister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan. The objectives of NCBI are to improve cottonproduction and address the problems of cotton growers through breeding, integratedpest management, bio fertilizer production and nutrition management in SouthPunjab. To achieve these objectives, four well equipped laboratories, i.e. MolecularBreeding, Plant nutrition, Fiber Technology and Integrated Pest Management willbe established. Last Year four varieties were submitted for NCVT, This Year two newgenotypes IUB-313and IUB-325 havingcomplete resistance against bollwormwith Glyphosateresistance aredeveloped andsubmitted fortesting in NCVT, DUSand adaptabilitytrials in Bahawalpurregion. Main focusof our Research is todevelop CLCUV freeand salinity tolerantgenotypes.

Dr. Usman Aziz
Director