Cotton season: Crop sowing target to be set tomorrow

Federal ministries will convene to coordinate efforts.

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Cotton Committee (FCC) will meet tomorrow to set crop sowing targets for the next season and take stock of production during last year.

Officials of federal ministries, including National Food Security and Research, Textile Industry Division, Planning Development and Reforms, will attend the meeting.

Talking to the media on Tuesday, cotton commissioner of the textile ministry Dr Khalid Abdullah said that the provincial ministries of agriculture and their allied departments will also attend the meeting to give their input.

He said that the Indus River Authority System will present a report on water availability during the season, while the meteorological office will apprise the meeting about the weather forecast and precautionary measures needed.

Abdullah said that officials of the State Bank of Pakistan, National Bank of Pakistan and Zarai Taraqiati Bank will brief the meeting on the availability of credit for cotton crop sowing. He added that other stakeholders including the National Fertiliser Corporation, Plant Protection Department, and the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department will also attend the meeting.

Abdullah stated that according to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, about 13.1 million cotton bales have arrived in the local market so far. However, he said that final figures of last year’s production would be compiled by the first week of next month, which will depict the actual picture of cotton crop during the period under review.

Cotton production in Punjab was recorded at about 9.36 million bales whereas the output in Sindh reached to 3.74 million bales as the crop was cultivated over 2.7 million hectares of land, according to Abdullah.

After getting the GSP Plus status, demand for cotton is expected to increase by 28%, said Abdullah. To prepare for this, all other departments including seed certification and bio-safety were also directed to work closely to fulfil the domestic requirements of seeds and pesticides to increase per acre crop production in the country, he stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2014.

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