Cotton sowing season begins in Punjab

The cotton sowing season 2020 kicked off in the province on Wednesday with the provincial agriculture department eyeing to bring over 4.6 million acres of land under cultivation of this most important crop. Cotton is grown mostly in the two provinces of Punjab and Sindh, with the former accounting for 79% and the latter for 20% of the nation's cotton-growing land. It is also grown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan provinces. Pakistan's top export sector textile also relies on this crop.
Sources in the Punjab Agriculture Department (PAD) told Business Recorder on Wednesday that though no target for sowing has been set this year but they hope that they will exceed 4.6 million acres of land, brought under cultivation last season. They said they are giving subsidy on seed for this important crop for 200,000 acres of land at the rate of Rs 1000 per acre. The Punjab Seed Corporation (PSC) will be providing this subsidized seed to the farmers. Similarly, the federal government will be providing 200,000 PB ropes to combat the pests damaging this crop, especially whitefly.
The sources said they are consulting the federal government to provide pesticides to cotton growers on discounted rates. "We are trying that we could get some money for this important sector out of Rs 100 billion package announced by the prime minister for agriculture and SME sector," the sources added. The Punjab Agriculture Department has provided a list of product to the federal government in this regard and hoping to hear some positive news soon, they said.
When asked about allowing germination percentage for cotton seed, they said the growers would use double seed rate per acre if the germination of seed would be lower than the previous years. They said the department had constituted district committees and written to the seed companies to fix prices of their seed afresh in line with the germination rate. These district committees comprising deputy directors, assistant directors and seed inspectors would keep a vigilant eye on seed business, so as farmers would get seed on better rates.
Meanwhile, in an advisory the provincial agriculture department had asked the cotton growers to use only approved BT and non-BT varieties of cotton seed for a better yield.