Cotton ginning institute: belated yet a good step

The government has announced setting up of a ginning institute in the country at Multan which has been named as the Pakistan Cotton Ginning Institute. Since Pakistan earns one of the top four positions among cotton-producing countries, this decision should have been announced long ago.
Though belated yet a good step to be taken by the government having decided to set up such an important institute in the country. In this way the authorities have also recognised the importance of bringing about improvements in our long-ignored cotton ginning sector.
The question is what role this Institute is going to play for the betterment of the ginning sector? Is it going to help in the improvement of cotton quality or it will only act as a training centre for the ginning technical staff. Pakistan is amongst the main cotton-producing countries but it is a pity that least importance is given to the cotton ginning process and upgradation of the ginneries, ignoring the aspect of quality of the cotton which is the utmost requirement of the end user at the present time.
In view of our ginners the meaning of ginning is just to separate lint from the seed. The idea of separating trash from the lint is rare in our ginning industry. A few ginners bother to adopt the method of proper ginning to produce better quality cotton. The others think that by cleaning cotton they will decrease their ginning outturn. Therefore, they are least interested in cleaning the cotton and most of our ginning factories are without proper cleaning equipments.
The proposed ginning institute can play a significant roll to mobilise the ginning sector towards upgradation of the ginneries and improvement of the cotton quality.
The first and foremost step for the ginning institute is installation of a ginning plant. The board of directors of the institute thoughtfully and carefully got to decide the type of machinery to be installed therein. It should be a model ginning plant in all respects, equipped with all the modern parts required for proper ginning process. The technical committee/officials of the institute may visit countries like India, Turkey and USA in order to decide on a proper design for the ginning plant for the institute.
But the important point to be noted for the authorities is that the entire ginning plant should be got made by the local manufacturers. Our local manufacturers have the potential to deliver the goods and they are capable of manufacturing all sorts of ginning machines. The locally-made modern ginning plant will not only be used for training purposes but also be demonstrated as a model to be followed by the ginners in the country.
Installing imported ginning plant will be of high cost and will not serve the purpose whatsoever.
Research work regarding modernisation of the ginneries as well as improvement in quality should be the prime function of the institute. The research work on the locally-made plant will not only be beneficial for our ginning sector but also help promote our local gin-manufacturing industry.
Setting up an institute will not probably bring any fruitful changes in the ginning sector until a proper marketing system is not adopted in the country. Our local cotton business does not take place according to any prescribed system of grading. Therefore no proper system of premium and discount is applied. Under the prevailing system of marketing if you ask any seller what type of cotton he has in stock, the answer comes," October pack or November pack" without describing the fibre characteristics. It is unfortunate that we could not name our cotton so far to describe it technically.
The KCA announces the cotton rates on the basis of grades evolved by the Pakistan Cotton Standard Institute but there is no practical application of those grades in the country. The grading system should immediately be applied and adopted by the buyer and the seller both to bring about improvements in our ginning process to obtain better cotton quality. As long as the seller is not paid according to quality/grade, the trainings only in ginning institute will not bring fruitful results. Our spinning mills producing quality yarn are paying premium on quality cotton but without any systematic way.
The ginning sector is also required to be trained in the field of cotton packing which is quite poor in the country. Generally the cotton bales are wrapped in substandard hoops/wires with out covering it in cloth. It is unfortunate that a commodity worth millions of rupees is packed and presented in a poor condition. A number of bales burst shortly after pressing in the ginning factories. While repressing, lot of dust, foreign matter/contamination are added to cotton. Loose/broken bales are highly inflammable also.
Fire cases have increased in the ginning factories and textile mills during the last few years due to unwrapped/lose/substandard packing of bales. The insurance companies should make it mandatory for the ginning factories taking insurance cover for cotton bales fully (six sides) with standard material to avoid heavy losses. The concerned ministry needs to look into the matter.
Hopefully Pakistan Cotton Ginning Institute will not take too long to be completed and start functioning soon to play a vital role in tuning up the minds of the ginners to improve the cotton ginning process and quality.