Onward with clean cotton

Now that the Ministry of Textile has fixed cotton standardisation fee of Rs 5 per pressed bale at the ginning stage, it will certainly mean removal of the last of the hindrances obscuring the vision of clean cotton for four years.
This has reference to the promulgation the Pakistan Cotton Standardisation Ordinance, 2002, of which contamination-free cotton happens to be an integral part.
Needless to point out, evidently inspired by the Pervez Musharraf economic team's brave exercise in retrieving the country's badly battered economy, from the rock bottom it was found hit in 1999, PCSO must have been put in place in the perspective of the great importance of cotton for agriculture and industry. Then coming in the midst of awakening to the disturbing outcome of protracted neglect of agriculture and jungle-like growth of industry, understandable must be the idea of restoring cotton to its rightful place not in agriculture alone but in the country's overall economy as such.
Hence the urgency of making amends to errors and omissions committed in the new country's economic development endeavour on the part of its early economic planners and managers, that was pursued by their successors over such a long period of time as exceeding half a century.
Reference may be made here of surfacing of the urge for resorting to corporate farming, to make up for the past lapses, on the one hand, and making it part of the massive industry boosting effort, on the other. It will also be noted that since cotton occupies a distinctive place of its own in the agriculture sector, it could not but figure prominently in the vision of clean cotton scheme of things, seemingly, with due focus on its cultivation.
It is, however, another matter that production of contamination free cotton remained beset with a number of problems, to the accompaniment of several disjointed efforts, including those by the private sector towards that end. The programme referred to above provides for production of 100,000 bales of clean and standardised cotton - 70,000 bales in Punjab and 30,000 in Sindh.
More to this, 20 modern ginning factories - 14 in Punjab, and six in Sindh - have been selected, in accordance with the criteria set by Mintex and the two provincial agriculture departments, in the main cotton growing districts in the two provinces, in consultation with the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, and the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.
It will be noted that fixation of Cotton Standardisation Fee follows the decision taken by the ECC of the Cabinet on July 15, 2006. The levy would facilitate implementation of a state-of-the-art system for production of clean cotton, bringing it on a par with international standards, thereby helping the country compete in the international market. Moreover, it should contribute to strengthening of Pakistan Cotton Standards Institute, besides setting up a network of Fibre Testing Laboratories and Human Resources Development in the skill of cotton classing and grading.
It is also heartening to learn that Mintex has already launched the Clean Cotton Programme with participation of 23 ginning factories, leading to production of 1000 clean cotton bales in three ginning factories. As such, stage will appear to have been set for attainment of the target of 100,000 clean cotton bales during the season.