Former Speaker of National Assembly, Syed Fakhar Imam has said that government should take measures to save farmers from the huge financial loss of more than rupees 460 billion as the prices of cotton have fallen to the lowest ebb. Now ginned cotton is being procured at Rs 5,800 per maund while last month, rate of cotton had climbed up to Rs 14,000 per maund.
Talking to newsmen here on Sunday, Imam said that cotton growers are faced with a serious price crisis as the rate of phutti selling at Rs3,500 to 4,000 per 40 kg in the beginning of July has drastically declined to Rs2,00 to 2,000. He said that the prices of agricultural inputs like seed, fertiliser, pesticide, diesel and electricity also increased considerably compared to last year, further adding to the woes of farmers. However, he hoped that the country could improve its record of year 2004 of 14.2 million bales, provided the weather remains favourable.
He said that the cotton crop looks very promising so far. He pointed out that the growers have increased under-cultivation area in the current season while keeping in view last year prices. He informed that the estimated cultivated area in Punjab stands at 6.0 million acres, Sindh 1.7 million acres and Balochistan 0.1 million acres.
Former speaker NA pointed out that the growers mainly planted BT cotton varieties this year and almost one acres of land were under early sown cotton in Punjab. He said that unlike the past years, the first picking is very good because of favourable weather conditions. He further said that with higher production expected, cotton growers must receive a fair price for their produce. "The only way this can be done by the government is to instruct Trading Corporation of Pakistan to purchase cotton from market to the tune of at least two million bales," he remarked. This would bring about competition in the market between the local textile mills and the TCP.