Chairman PCGA calls for implementation of Cotton Control Act to raise cotton production

September 24, 2018: Chairman, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Haji Muhammad Akram said on Monday that national cotton production can be elevated up to 15 million bales provided Cotton Control Act is implemented in letter and spirit.

He said that according to their assessment and information, cotton production would remain around 11.5 to 12 million bales this year with expectations of rise in production in Punjab and some reduction in Sindh.

He declared cotton as the biggest crop that earns sizable foreign exchange and provides livelihood to numerous families.

He cited factors including higher power tariff for tube wells, water shortage, no announcement of support price and substandard/fake seeds as the factors behind lower production results, besides the fact that water table in most of the cotton producing areas has either gone down or is saline.

He said that Pakistan had once touched 15 million bales production mark, which has now reduced to 11.5 million bales.

For this reason, PCGA chairman underlined the need for bringing improvement in efficiency of agriculture department and research bodies. He urged the government to extend support to each ginning factory to introduce upgraded ginning technology for production of clean cotton.

He said that there were 1300 ginning factories in the country and each needed investment of at least Rs 5 million for up gradation. This support can be extended to factories in phases, he added.

Haji Akram said that domestic textile sector need 15 million bales every year and they also import cotton in addition to utilizing home grown cotton. He opined that instead of spending dollars on import of cotton, government should invest on facilitating local farmers to produce best quality cotton.

(APP)