The cotton crop is in good condition throughout the country so far and according to the experts'' assessment its production would be more than 14 million bales during 2005-06 season, Additional Secretary and spokesman of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) Mumtaz Ahmad told Business Recorder here on Monday.
Contradicting press reports of damage to cotton crop, the spokesman said that so far the climatic conditions and environment have been very favourable for cotton, which is Pakistan''s main cash crop and a source of nearly 67 percent foreign earnings.
Mumtaz Ahmad said after timely and proper sowing of the crop, the government assured adequate supply of water, fertilisers, pesticides and according to field reports, there had been no flare-up of any insect pests or the Cotton Leaf Curl virus so far anywhere in Pakistan.
Agricultural Development Commissioner Dr Qadir Baloch also reviewed the current cotton crop situation in a meeting on Monday at the Minfal.
The meeting noted that having achieved a record crop of 14.6 million bales last season, the cotton production target for 2005-06 season was fixed at 15 million bales.
The meeting was informed that that Minfal in collaboration with the provincial agriculture departments and the private stakeholders had developed a well-thought cotton production strategy prior to the commencement of the season to attain cotton production target.
Accordingly, adequate availability of high yielding seeds were ensured for sowing purposes which helped the growers exceed the targeted area by 2.86 percent in the Punjab and by one percent in Sindh.
The irrigation water also remained adequately available this year as the availability of urea fertilisers during Kharif 2005 was reported at 2.656 million tonnes as against the estimated requirement of 2.555 million tonnes. Among various fertilisers, 949,000 tonnes of DAP were reported to be available against the requirement of 643,000 tonnes which helped stabilising the fertiliser prices.
A press release issued after the meeting said that in order to tackle any possible flare-up of insect pests due to humid weather all necessary pesticides were made available in adequate quantities.
The list of pesticides that can be imported under the generic scheme was also expanded to 120, which helped in reduction of prices to the advantage of the growers. The meeting was further informed that the Department of Plant Protection, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council and provincial agriculture departments were keeping close watch on the quality of pesticides.
It was also observed that the Minfal and the provincial agriculture departments were constantly guiding the farmers on cotton production and protection measures through the electronic media and the provincial agriculture extension services.
The press release stated that the field reports on the standing cotton crop furnished by the federal and provincial agencies were also reviewed and it was noted that there had so far been no flare-up of any insect pests or the Cotton Leaf Curl virus and the situation was well under control.
It was observed that this season the cotton sowing on ridges had increased and the provincial governments had persuaded the farmers to give due attention to better crop management practices, weed control and particularly the integrated pest management.
The growth and development of the crop was satisfactory throughout the Cotton Belt. While the crop in most of the area was at flowering and fruiting stages, seed cotton arrivals from the early sown areas had started and the growers were reportedly getting a price over and above the intervention price of Rs 975/- per 40-kg fixed by the government.
The meeting was informed that the assessment of cotton crop size would soon be made by the Cotton Crop Assessment Committee, which is likely to meet during the month of September.
The release said that the world cotton situation was also reviewed in the meeting and it was noted that the International Cotton Advisory Committee had projected the global production in 2005-06 at 111.5 million bales or 7 percent less than last year''s production of 120.42 million bales mainly due to projected decline of 3.2 percent in cotton area sown and 6 percent in per hectare yield.
In view of the lower production but higher consumption and a record imports by China foreseen in 2005-06, the world market cotton prices were projected at 64 cents per pound as against 52 cents per pound of last year''s average. Hence, an increase of 23 percent in market prices is expected this season on average.
While expressing satisfaction on the current crop situation in the country during the meeting it was also realised that besides expected higher yield per hectare in Pakistan the growing community would also benefit from the anticipated increase in cotton prices in the world markets.