ISLAMABAD: The current monsoon rains will have a negative impact on the cotton crop in the country as rain causes various diseases in the crop.
A senior official of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNS&R) told Business Recorder that rains would have a positive impact on other major Kharif Crops including sugarcane and rice but it will have a negative impact on cotton and maize.
President Kisan Ittehad Khalid Mehmood Khokhar said that the country’s cotton production which is already on a declining trajectory will further deteriorate due to the ongoing rains. He said that rains will also have a negative impact on maize crop as farmers failed to cultivate the crop on time.
Khokhar said that currently cotton crop is at the fruit-opening stage therefore more rains in the cotton belt of the country will affect the crop. He further said that the yields of sesame (til), rice, and cotton have drastically reduced due to the heat wave, with temperatures reaching 48°C and an unprecedented heat index of 60°C.
A senior official of MNS&R told the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research meeting held last week that cotton production in the country is forecast to decline in 2024-25 due to high energy and financial costs which will constrain the textile sector’s growth.
He further contended that the government has set a target of $25 billion for textile exports for 2023-24 but exports are expected to fall short of this goal.
The official said that the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) during its previous meeting fixed the following production targets: cotton 10.8 million bales from3.12 million hectares; rice 8.7 million tons from over 3.1 million hectares of land; sugarcane at 76.7 million tons over an area of 1.3 million hectares; and maize at 9.3 million tons’ production from an area of over 1.5 million hectares of land.
According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) due to this low-pressure weather system, strong monsoon currents entered the country (especially in southern parts) on August 25 (night). Under the influence of this weather system rainfall across the country particularly torrential rains in southern half may continue till August 29.
The National Agromet Center (NAC) of PMD in its advisory has urged farmers of cotton crop areas to drain out excess rainwater from the field as the accumulation of water affects food formation process in plants and may cause small balls to fall. Pest/viral attacks are expected in cotton and sugarcane crops during the monsoon hot and humid conditions therefore farmers should be very careful and take precautionary measures on time in this regard, the advisory further says.
It further advised farmers obtaining crop water through tube wells to schedule irrigation according to the expected weather and to control weed growth in its present growing stage to forestall any negative impact on the crops and urged farmers to take timely precautionary measures to protect their crops, livestock and other property from any expected heavy rains.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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