LAHORE: The Punjab agriculture department has executed a pilot project for production of off-season tomatoes in the province for controlling its price during off-season.

In the pilot phase, a target of 2,000 acres has been set and so far 1,600 acres have been brought under tomato cultivation, a meeting held with agriculture secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo in the chair was told here on Wednesday.

The off-season cultivation will enable long-term availability of local tomatoes as groups of farmers have been formed to encourage onion and tomato farming in certain districts and field formations have been given tasks in this respect.

It was told that subsidy is being provided to tomato and onion farmers on the purchase of seeds and modern machinery for the two crops.

The secretary instructed the concerned officers to speed up their activities for technical guidance of vegetable growers and take along the local elected representatives and administrative officers in the off-season cultivation of tomatoes. — Staff Reporter