Cotton production target may be missed
CCAC says flood damage will take toll on season’s target.
ISLAMABAD:
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) has said that the country may miss the cotton production target this year following the flood damage.
The statement was made during the first meeting of the CCAC for the 2014-15 crop season. As per assessment, the total cotton production would stand at 13.5395 million bales against the target of 15.1 million bales set by the government. Production in Punjab would be 9.5380 million, Sindh 3.6, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) 0.0015 and Balochistan 0.4 million bales.
Meanwhile, farmers from Punjab stressed for Trading Corporation of Pakistan’s (TCP) intervention and demanded withdrawal of the recent 5% tax levy on cottonseed cake for feeding animals, especially in flood-affected areas.
Ministry of Textile Industry Secretary Rukhsana Shah stressed upon scientists to check the effects of pesticides in oil and cake produced through cotton crop.
“Since Pakistan is signatory to various international laws, obligations, we must focus on producing better cotton to not only benefit farmers in reducing the cost of production but also in exporting it at higher prices,” she stated.
The secretary also directed the immediate initiation of a pilot project for construction of a ginning factory in K-P to overcome the problem of cotton marketing in the province.
She assured the farmers that all-out efforts will be made for the earliest possible induction of TCP for procuring seed cotton so that farmers could benefit from the Economic Coordination Committee’s decision.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2014.
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) has said that the country may miss the cotton production target this year following the flood damage.
The statement was made during the first meeting of the CCAC for the 2014-15 crop season. As per assessment, the total cotton production would stand at 13.5395 million bales against the target of 15.1 million bales set by the government. Production in Punjab would be 9.5380 million, Sindh 3.6, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) 0.0015 and Balochistan 0.4 million bales.
Meanwhile, farmers from Punjab stressed for Trading Corporation of Pakistan’s (TCP) intervention and demanded withdrawal of the recent 5% tax levy on cottonseed cake for feeding animals, especially in flood-affected areas.
Ministry of Textile Industry Secretary Rukhsana Shah stressed upon scientists to check the effects of pesticides in oil and cake produced through cotton crop.
“Since Pakistan is signatory to various international laws, obligations, we must focus on producing better cotton to not only benefit farmers in reducing the cost of production but also in exporting it at higher prices,” she stated.
The secretary also directed the immediate initiation of a pilot project for construction of a ginning factory in K-P to overcome the problem of cotton marketing in the province.
She assured the farmers that all-out efforts will be made for the earliest possible induction of TCP for procuring seed cotton so that farmers could benefit from the Economic Coordination Committee’s decision.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2014.