Production of 12.5m cotton bales expected
Despite 80% loss to cotton crop in Sindh because of torrential rains and floods, 12.5 million bales are still expected to be produced by the country this year, with 10 million bales from Punjab and 2.5 million bales from Sindh.
This crop would be sufficient to meet demand of the textile industry by the time next cotton season begins in 2012, said Federal Textile Minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin here on Friday.
“Punjab has a bumper cotton crop this year to compensate for the loss in Sindh,” the minister remarked while speaking in a meeting with the Value Added Textile Association chairman at Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) House.
Textile Ministry Secretary Shahid Rasheed told the meeting that in Punjab this year, the cotton crop was safe from all kinds of viruses, which had damaged the crop very badly over the last couple of years.
He said that before the floods, production of 15 million bales was expected. “We would have a good stock of cotton” had there been no damage, he said. However, up to 1.5 million bales might need to be imported to strengthen the supply position of this basic raw material for the textile industry, he added.
Rasheed told the textile leaders that Rs7.5 billion had been allocated for refund of taxes and levies in the current financial year.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 8th, 2011.
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80% of Sindh's crop was destroyed and despite that it will produce 2.5 million. That means that otherwise it would have produced 12.5 million. Adding Punjab's 10 million on top of that you should have expected a total of 22.5 million if there was o flood damage. Yes you said 15 million was expected before the flood damage.
Proves one thing. The government is exaggerating the actual damage that has occurred in order to get more funds from international donors. But Pakistan's credibility is really low in this respect.