Decline in cotton production continues in Pakistan
09-Oct-2024 12:05 PM
Karachi. Cotton is an important crop of Pakistan but its production is continuously deteriorating. Known as 'white gold', this cash or industrial crop is considered important for the strengthening of the Pakistani economy and it earns valuable foreign currency from the export of various products made from cotton.
In recent years, due to various reasons, the cotton crop has to struggle hard to maintain its existence. On one hand, farmers do not get a profitable price for cotton and secondly, there is a lack of good quality seeds.
Weather conditions also often become unfavorable and farmers do not get proper compensation when the crop is destroyed.
The cotton crop also suffers heavy losses due to climate change, floods and rains and the outbreak of insects and diseases.
On one hand, the textile industry has to import cotton in large quantities from abroad, while on the other hand, Pakistani farmers have started giving priority to cultivation of other crops other than cotton.
Due to this, the decline in production there is likely to continue in the future as well. Pakistan itself is facing the crisis of severe shortage of foreign currency while the textile industry has to use foreign currency to import cotton. This has increased the concern of the government.
In the most prominent producing province- Sindh, the target of cotton cultivation in 6.40 lakh hectares was set last year and its actual area reached 6.25 lakh hectares or 98 percent. But during the current year,
the target of sowing area there was reduced to 6.30 lakh hectares while the actual area could reach only 5.50 lakh hectares. In this way, this time the area of cotton sowing in Sindh decreased by 13 percent compared to last year.
In the year 2004, 142.60 lakh bales of cotton were produced from cultivation in 20.60 lakh hectares in Pakistan, which by the year 2022 has declined to 49.10 lakh bales.
Sindh province last had a spectacular production of 42 lakh bales of cotton in the year 2009 but after that the production kept declining rapidly.
This year till October 1, only 20.40 lakh bales of cotton were produced in Pakistan which was 59.4 percent less than last year's production of 50.30 lakh bales.