The government has decided to celebrate 2006 as the 'Year of contamination-free cotton' to improve crop quality to meet the challenges of the WTO regime. The decision was taken here on Thursday at a meeting chaired by the Food Minister Sikander Khan Bosan. Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman, Haji Ibrahim, a progressive grower, Khawaja Shoaib and representatives of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) and other organisations attended the meeting.
The minister told the meeting that with an objective to achieve contamination-free cotton, the government would offer special package to the growers and ginners soon so that Pakistan could get good returns on export of cotton and textile items.
The government has constituted the task force under the chairmanship Food Minister Sikander Khan Bosan to give suggestions for improvement in cotton quality.
PCGA chairman Haji Ibrahim appreciated the government's efforts to produce quality cotton and hoped that the idea of premium would give good results. He added that the ginners were fully aware of the demands of the WTO regime and for the same reasons they have already undertaken up-gradation of ginning industries. Haji Ibrahim told the meeting that ginners were following Turkey and China to upgrade ginning units so that contamination ratio could be reduced to minimum level.
He said that the 10-member PCGA delegation had recently visited Turkey to see the ginning industry there and apply the same patterns for up-gradation of the local industry.
The PCGA Chairman also raised the issue of the TCP stock during the meeting and demanded that the government should not sell its cotton stock to the local textile industry as any such move could result in crash in prices and would hurt growers and ginners who were yet to sell their stocks.
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