'Contaminated cotton hitting export earnings'

Pakistan is losing billions of dollars in export earnings due to contaminated cotton that gives low return to businesses, while foreign buyers, wary of contamination in Pakistani cotton, pay less price as against certified contamination-free cotton from other sources.
Central Cotton Research Institute, Multan, former Director Dr Zahoor Ahmed said this while talking to this correspondent here on Thursday. He said contamination in cotton meant presence of materials other than cotton itself including threads of polypropylene bags, shreds of cloth, pieces of rope twine, human animal hair, leaves, small twigs, etc. Contamination occurred during the picking and packing of seed cotton, he added.
The current cotton production target of 15 million bales might not be achieved due to floods in late summer that washed away cotton crop on 0.4 million acres in Sindh and Punjab, while similar losses incurred due to pest-attacks, he added.
Nevertheless, the government has launched a vigorous campaign to produce contamination-free cotton to enable Pakistani exporters to compete in the international market.
The contamination-free cotton production was necessary to sell our cotton and cotton products in the world market. Contamination makes the quality of products questionable therefore cotton, cotton yarn and clothes are purchased at lower rates in international market.
The terms of reference of a 16-member task force, headed by Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Alhaj Sikandar Hayat Bosan, is to identify the causes of contamination in cotton production and propose remedial measures for elimination of contamination in cotton production.
Now Cotton Ginners are complaining of non-payment of premium on the contamination-free cotton, which had discouraged the progressive farmers who had produced good quality cotton.
Dr Zahoor Ahmed said the national exchequer suffered too as cotton exporters failed to fetch the better prices of cotton from international buyers, adding we were selling our cotton and cotton products on discounted rates losing around two billion dollars per annum.
"The World trade Organisation has been enforced since January 2005 and we have to survive in quota-free atmosphere where our quality of products needs to be improved for survival in the world market. We must focus on quality and price both need to be enhanced keeping in view the world situation and position of cotton market around the globe," he said.