The cotton crop, still at the tender age of just 15 to 45 days, is in excellent condition, and the national expectation for a bumper crop is likely to bear fruit, said Islam Gill, director, Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI). Talking to APP here on Saturday, he said the production target of 15 million bales, though tough, is expected to be achieved, given the favourable weather conditions so far.
He said there were reports that in some parts of the core cotton zones the crop had been damaged either due to rains or hot wind, but farmers had re-cultivated the affected fields in a swift and effective damage-control response, he added.
In Punjab, 97 percent of the cotton sowing target of 6.3 million acres has been achieved, while the production target of 11.65 million bales is also likely to be realised, he added.
In core cotton areas of districts Multan, Lodhran, Vehari, Khanewal, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, DG Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, and Layyah, the cotton plantation has been completed over 95 percent of the target area, while in the non-core areas which include Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Faisalabad and Okara, the target has been surpassed by 10 percent.
Meanwhile, 89 percent sowing has been completed in the marginal areas viz, Kasur, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Sargodha, Mandi Bahauddin, Sheikhupura, Khushab, Chakwal, and Jhelum.
The CCRI director lauded the farmers efforts in ensuring thinning, weeding, and irrigating the cotton crop, and observed that crop is in satisfactory condition so far due to constant care, and that there is no report of any pest attack in the cotton belt.The canal irrigation water supply is also satisfactory, as is the availability of quality inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, etc to the farmers, he remarked, adding that the government is taking effective measures to prevent marketing of spurious and substandard farm inputs.
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