Govt must spin into action to save cotton: brokers

KARACHI: Raising concerns over the declining production, officials at Karachi Cotton Brokers Forum (KCBF) on Friday appealed to the government to spin into action to save the crop before it was too late.

“The production of mere 5.6 million cotton bales in Pakistan is alarming,” said Naseem Usman, chairman KCBF and

senior member Karachi Cotton Association (KCA), addressing a press conference.

Usman urged enhanced collaboration among all stakeholders including growers, ginners, weavers, KCA and exporters to revive the vital cotton crop and boost its production.

Naseem said enhanced cotton production was vital for economic development due to its contribution in various sectors including textile, edible oil etc. besides being a source of income for rural women.

Unfortunately the cotton production in Pakistan was badly hit due to shifting of cotton areas to sugarcane crop and the lack of research for new varieties of quality seeds, he said.

The KCBF official further said with enhanced production of rice, maize, and expected improvement in wheat in the country, the only concern now was decreased cotton production.

Usman also urged the need of enhanced modern research in the field of cotton seeds and said the country’s socio-economic development was tied to its growers’ prosperity.

He stressed the need for ensuring the crop-zoning to stop farmers from switching to other crops which would be largely beneficial for agriculture sector development and economic growth.

He said that unavailability of high yielding, certified, hybrid seed varieties was the main hurdle in domestic output, besides provisions of pesticides to control the pest attacks, which every year destroy crops standing over millions of hectares.

The development of cotton crop was vital for attaining economic growth and social prosperity, adding that to achieve the true crop production potential use of hybrid varieties were much required, besides it needed to replace with conventional seeds.

Chairman KCBF said the need for revamping seed production technologies in order to enhance per-acre crop output and maximise farmers’ income to compete in international markets as well as fulfilling the domestic raw material needs of the industry.

Cotton crop was grown over 3.8 million acres in Punjab and 1.6 million acres in Sindh province, he said adding that last year a vast area in Sindh was damaged due to pest attacks and unfavorable weather.

He said local farmers were far behind in terms of income as compared the farmers of other countries and local farmers received Rs40 to Rs50 billion less per annum from international markets as compared to farmers of other countries.

Usman called on the government to provide subsidy on cotton seed for enhancing local output. Besides, he said all possible resources would be utilised for the improvement of cotton crop.