Raza Khan

Pakistan needs to enhance cotton production by improving per hectare yield and bringing more area under cultivation, Dr Gohar Ejaz, Patron-in-Chief of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), has stressed. Talking to WealthPK, he said that per hectare yield of cotton in Pakistan was just 400 kilogrammes, ranked 47 in the world. “Per hectare yield of cotton is as high as 1,800kg in the US and some other countries,” he added.

He said that Pakistani farmers were also unable to compete and get the actual profits because of low cotton yield. “Why would a farmer cultivate cotton if the yield is too low.”   He said the country’s textile sector also suffered from reduced cotton production. “Textile sector needs 12 million to 15 million bales of cotton, but the local production is just 5 million bales this year.”

Gohar Ejaz said that cotton production was 13 million bales in Pakistan in 1992, but a sharp drop was observed after 2012. He said that due to negligence and replacing cotton crops with others, Pakistan has dropped from 4th to 7th place in cotton-producing countries.

The APTMA’s patron-in-chief said that the Pakistani textile sector needed to import $4 billion worth of cotton this year to fulfil its demand. “Importing one million bales of cotton costs $400 million, fetching $1.3 billion in foreign exchange after value addition,” he pointed out. He said this showed how much capital the country was losing on importing each million of cotton bales.

He was of the view that the government needed to prioritise agricultural and export sectors to reduce the import of food items. “This is the only way to reduce the country’s trade deficit,” he added. He demanded that the government focus on cotton crops by introducing quality seeds and enhancing yield through modern farming. He added that there was abundant land available in southern Punjab, which should be used for cotton cultivation.

According to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, a year-on-year decline of 34% was recorded in cotton production during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year. Cotton production was recorded at 4.912 million bales in July-March this year compared to 7.441 million bales during the same period of last year, with a shortage of 2.529 million bales.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan spent $1.828 billion to import 7,76,394 metric tonnes of raw cotton in fiscal year 20221-22. According to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, cotton production declined by 35.49% due to various reasons during the last 12 years.

Cotton’s production dropped to 8.33 million bales in 2021-22 from 12.91 million bales during the year 2009-10, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research said in a report. The area under cotton cultivation also dropped by 37.52% to 1.94 million hectares in 2021-22 from 3.11 million hectares in 2009-10, said the report. Low-quality seeds and pesticides, high insect infestation, low profitability of cotton crops, and climate-related issues have been identified as major factors behind the decrease in cotton productivity.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk