Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Syed Fakhar Imam stated on Wednesday that the government was focusing on the revival of cotton, the largest cash crop of the country, through several programs.
The Minister said this while chairing the annual meeting of the Agriculture Policy Institute (API) Committee on Seed Cotton for 2022-23. The meeting was attended by representatives of cotton growers, associations of the growers, research scientists, experts, planners, and provincial extension and research departments.
The Minister informed the participants that Prime Minister Imran Khan would inaugurate the 1st Cotton Conference to be organized by the Ministry in March 2022. The conference, he said, would be an important move to bring the key stakeholders to a single platform to discuss the issues facing the farming community, listen to the best practices, and prepare an action plan for the future.
Federal Secretary NFS&R Tahir Khurshid highlighted the importance of economic gains from the crop by ensuring a good price of the produce, which was possible through quality seed, better management practices, and efficient use of inputs. He urged the farming community to share the cost of production estimates for the Ministry to work out the intervention price recommendations for the next crop.
Earlier, the representatives of the cotton growers expressed their concerns pertaining to the cultivation of cotton. Rabia Sultan from Punjab appreciated the government’s price policy for the 2021-22 crop announcing Rs. 5,000/40-kg as intervention price, which paved the way for the remunerative price received by the cotton growers. She stressed that the Cotton Vision 2015 needed to be revisited and a new long-term strategy should be devised with the participation of growers.
Syed Mumtaz Shah from Sindh shared that the early varieties had provided much better productivity where growers had picked 38-40 maunds of seed cotton. He said the government might consider up-scaling the approved varieties for early sowing, as it would bring a huge difference in the overall production.
Vice President Sindh Abadgar Board, Syed Nadeem Shah Jamote appreciated the convening of the meeting at a right time.
President Anjuman’e Kashtkaran Punjab, Rana Iftikhar Ahmed lauded the efforts of the Federal Minister in highlighting the issue of cotton crop production, as it revived the confidence of farmers.
Bashir Ahmed, a grower from Barkhan, Balochistan highlighted that organic cotton was gaining the attention of growers mainly because of a better price. He noted that there was a great potential of growing organic cotton in Balochistan.
Director-General API, Abdul Karim made a presentation on the intervention price policy for seed cotton. About the performance of the crop during the last decade, he explained that the average annual growth rates for the area, yield, and production had been negative at the country level, mainly due to the declining growth both in the Punjab and Sindh. He said due to better prices of the produce, returns on overall investment by the cotton growers were significantly improved as compared to other competing crops.
A representative of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) suggested that the problems of contamination of cotton needed to be addressed to ensure better prices for the produce.
Highlighting the issue of low yields, Secretary NFS&R asked the research and extension departments to sort out the factors responsible for the low productivity.
The participants stressed ensuring the availability of quality inputs, controlled prices, particularly of fertilizers and electricity for agricultural tube wells.
Source: Pro Pakistani