15 percent of cotton crop lost: ICAC

Pakistan lost 15 percent of its cotton crop to flooding, an international farm group estimated, which would reduce the harvest to 1.9 million tonnes. The International Cotton Advisory Committee secretariat said in a statement on Tuesday that "best guesses are that 6-8 percent of the total cotton area has been lost entirely."
Additional losses will come from pests such as bollworms and water-logging of plants. "While considerable uncertainty remains, the secretariat is revising its estimate of the 2010/11 Pakistan crop down by 15% to 1.9 million tonnes," said the statement, from the earlier 2.2 million tonnes. It estimated cotton mill consumption in Pakistan would fall by 100,000 tonnes. Pakistan is one of the world''s largest cotton growers along with China, India, the United States and Brazil and is a leading miller.