Cotton production in Pakistan achieves set Target
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

ISLAMABAD: Cotton crop registered a production of 10.061 million bales achieving the set target of the production for 2003-04.

Official sources told 'Pakistan Times' Monday that the crop was sown over an area of 2,995 thousand hectares showing an increase of 7% against the last years achievement of 2794 thousand hectares.

The condition of the cotton crop was better than the previous year upto mid August last year but insects and pests attack increased due to continuous rains and caused damage to the crop.

The Volume

The targets of cultivation and production of cotton for the current year was set at 2.995 million hectares and 10.06 million bales.

Cotton was sown over 2.387 million hectares in Punjab province which produced 7.702 million bales while in Sindh it was cultivated over 0.561 hectares and its yield was 2.243 million bales.

Cotton cultivation continued in Balochistan province under promotional programme to encourage and facilitate the growers. It was sown over an area of 0.039 hectares of land which produced 98,000 bales of the commodity.

The Bottlenecks

Shortage of rain and irrigation considerably affected the cultivation and production of cotton during last two years.

However cotton production maintained upward trend during last two and a half year of present government due to its farmer friendly steps envisaged in the agriculture policies.

Produce and Perspective

In 1998-99 cotton sowing area was 2.923 hectares which produced 8.790 million bales whereas the situation tremendously improved as a result of consistence policies of the present government.

There has been 5% decline in the area brought under cotton crop in Punjab and Sindh provinces as compared to the area sown in 2001-02 but introduction of cotton cultivation in Balochistan due to growing marketing facilities, the area target was placed at 2,971 thousand hectares while the production was envisaged at 10,000 thousand bales in order to meet the domestic mills requirements during the year 2002-03.

The government, in its efforts to provide maximum benefit to the farmers, has set a target to procure from the market at substantially higher rate than the prevailing international parity price or the local price.●