Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA)has demanded of the Punjab govt to take initiative for better quality cotton and cotton growing area be expanded besides increasing the per acre yield.
This would be possible when certified, well-germinated and qualitative seed would be supplied to the farmers at appropriate time.
A delegation of PCGA headed by Dr Jeso Mal Chairman called on Secretary Agriculture Punjab Capt Muhammad Mehmood (retd) and informed him of problems confronted by the ginning industry as well as farmers. They also presented their recommendations. They suggested that government should announce the support price of "Phutti" (Seed Cotton) at the time of sowing and National Cotton policy must be announced immediately.
Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton after China, India and the United States and has about 8.7 percent share in world's cotton production, the delegation said. They said that ginning industry is considered to be the backbone of the textile sector and plays a significant role in the economy. Though Pakistan produces best quality cotton, but ginning factories get poor quality and contaminated cotton due to poor transportation and storage facilities and unskilled handling and harvesting.
PCGA delegation offered its co-operation to the Government in achieving the target of production, producing the best and fine quality cotton. They suggested that entire staff of agriculture be made active and efficient to increase the cotton area and to save the cotton from the viral attack and other diseases. They said that the ginning industry is not working at its full potential, underlining the need for improvement. Though it has a small share of 4.6percent in the textile chain, it is the first step in value addition and the entire chain depends on growth of this industry.
In the post-production stage, the industry does not have proper marketing skills to encourage local and international consumers to be able to get a fair price. Absence of government support price, high inflation and associated factors have an undesirable impact on fair returns. Lack of application of standards and ginning practices as well as poor management also dog the industry. Ginners, who have no role in the price-setting mechanism, face some major problems in getting a fair price.
First, the government announces minimum price for cotton which ginners have to pay to the farmers. But ginners are not guaranteed any minimum price when they sell their product to textile mills or brokers. Second, there is no assurance of discount on poor quality from the government and no premium for high quality. Mostly, ginners are at the mercy of brokers to sell their product who easily exploit the former.
According to government data, 75percent of ginning factories are in Punjab and 22 percent in Sindh. The total number of ginning units is around 1,221 with an installed capacity of 36 million bales of cotton on a three-shift basis. The ginning season runs for 100 to 120 days. A large ginning factory produces nearly 10,000 bales per season whereas a small one produces 5,000 bales.
They vowed to play their role under "Grow cotton & save economy" drive. Senior Vice Chairman Suhail Mehmood Haral was accompanied by him.
Comments
Comments are closed.