Cotton crop is likely to miss the production target of 15 million bales set for 2012-13 due to less sowing, severe attack of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV), and a considerable reduction in use of fertilisers and pesticides specifically by the small growers.
Chairman Agri-forum, Ibrahim Mughal while talking exclusively to Business Recorder said that the target sowing area under cotton was 8 million acres across the country, but the crop was sown on seven million acres. "The target of sowing area of cotton in Punjab was 6.3 million acres but the crop was sown on 5.3 million acres."
The Chairman said, "The main factors behind the less sowing area of cotton crop across the country are non-availability of sufficient water for crop, and less procurement price of cotton crop than expected in 2011-12. The Chairman said that the production target of cotton for 2012-13 was 15 million bales, but it is likely to be reduced to 13.5 million bales and if so happens that will hurt the overall export target of Pakistan during the current fiscal year.
Due to the constant increase in prices of fertilisers and pesticides, the farmers are less interested in using the plant protection methods for cotton. "The farmers have to pay Rs 1700 per 50-kg bag of urea and Rs 3850/bag of DAP, while the pesticides in the domestic market are not only short, but also expensive. The low returns to the cotton growers from the crop have forced them to reduce the sowing area," Ibrahim Mughal said.
"The poor farmers are always given less for their production. This can be judged from the fact that phutti that was being sold at Rs 5000 per mound in 2010, while in the year 2011 its price reduced to Rs 2400-2700 per mound in domestic market. On the other hand, the prices of inputs are increasing with each passing day," Ibrahim Mughal maintained.
The CLCV attack that had reduced to minimum level in the last few years has increased this year and as the cotton growers are not using the pesticides as per the requirement of the crop, their production estimated to be affected to a larger extent, the Chairman added.
While talking exclusively with Business Recorder, Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Dr Zafar Iqbal said, "Within the next two days, a medium level flood is expected in river Ravi and Chenab, as per the MET Office forecast. Lahore, Ghujranwala and Faisalabad divisions are expected to be affected by the flood. Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) and district governments have already started shifting the vulnerable communities to safe places to avoid any mishaps."