MULTAN: Federal Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has expressed serious concern over decline of 5,100,000 bales in cotton production during the current season, which caused loss of Rs200 billion to national kitty.
“The minister assured the delegation of PCGA that immediate and solid steps would be taken to control the situation as the country could not afford huge losses and cotton import due to limited resources,” Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman Nawab Shehzad Ali Khan, in a statement quoted the minister as saying.
The minister asked the ginners to work like a team to motivate the growers/farmers for cultivation of cotton on maximum area, he said. The minister said that the Ministry of Commerce would work in collaboration with the provincial governments to enhance the production of cotton in the country.
The minister said the prime concern of the government is to ensure the interests of the farmers besides boosting the textile exports. He urged the representatives of PCGA to launch a campaign for educating farmers so that they could grow more cotton in a proper manner. It was decided that a meeting of all the stakeholders will be convened to prepare a holistic strategy to address the issues of cotton production, quality of cotton and its import mechanism.
The PCGA Chairman suggested that support price of Phutti (seed-cotton)) be fixed at Rs3,000 per 40 kg and it must be announced immediately to attract the growers. He said that national cotton policy was being delayed and sugar mills were being shifted to core cotton zone by the ruling party people. He said that all the three major political parties – PPP, PML-N and PTI – were violating the law regarding setting up sugar mills in the cotton zone.
