Cotton is the most important cash crop of Pakistan, contributing immensely to the industrial growth, employment creation and export expansion of the country. Unfortunately, however, its production has been fluctuating widely over the past few years and its output stood at around only ten million bales in FY16 compared to nearly 14 million bales a year earlier. One of the major reasons for low cotton production has been consistent pest attacks which the government has been unable to control. Fortunately, after a long struggle, there now seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Speaking at a joint media briefing in Islamabad on 13th December, 2016, Dr Jodi Scheffler, a research geneticist with USDA revealed that the US under its Cotton Productivity Enhancement Program (CPEP) had helped Pakistan cope with cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) disease with a view to increase productivity. The CPEP was a 5-year dollar 4.5 million USDA effort to mitigate the negative effects of CLCuV and 13 Pakistani research groups from some of the top research institutions were also co-opted in the programme. The programme's goals were the development of CLCuV-resistant cotton and improved agronomic practices, as well as encouraging collaboration between Pakistani and US scientists, building technical capacity in Pakistan and providing opportunities for young scientists through exchanges and training. Dr Scheffler also stated that the USDA had donated 5,000 cotton seed samples and identified multiple sources of resistance to CLCuV in non-commercial cotton, providing multiple sources of resistance that will help prevent resistance breakdown where the disease overcomes a plant's resistance mechanism. A new intercropping system had also been developed that allows the cotton to be more mature and able to better withstand CLCuV when the disease is at its highest level. Dr Abdul Majeed, country representative for International Centre for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), said that they were working on cultivating wheat and cotton at the same time and the experiment was quite successful.

Although the development on the control of CLCuV by the CPEP would appear to be very ordinary to most people, we feel that collaboration between Pakistan and the US on this particular project needs to be eulogised for finding the necessary tools to curb the menace that had been threatening the economy of the country for the last so many years. The cotton crop is so important that it alone occupies a share of 1.0 percent of GDP and contributes 5.1 percent in agriculture value addition besides playing a crucial role in the lives of ordinary people almost all over the country in terms of employment generation, export promotion, etc, particularly in rural areas where the crop is grown over 3 million hectares by about 1.3 million farmers, many with land holdings of 5 hectares or less. The success of the programme will obviously not only change the fortune of the country and its people for the better but is significant for other related reasons. For instance, the programme was undertaken with an expenditure of only dollar 4.5 million which shows that the dedicated efforts and the necessary expertise in the field were more important in its success than the size of financial allocation. Also, the best thing about the effort was that it was undertaken with the help and active co-operation of the local talent which would provide our younger generation the relevant knowledge and prepare them to work independently and without outside help in future. The technology of cultivating two crops at the same time is the icing on the cake which would help in increasing crop yields and optimise the utilisation of land resources of the country.

However, while the utility of CPEP is obvious, it needs reminding that success in controlling the severity of pest attacks is only one element in enhancing the yields of various agricultural crops. It is true that successful tackling of CLCuV could enhance cotton production by about 20 percent but there are many other factors which have to be looked into to raise our per hectare yields of agriculture crops to reasonable levels. Enhanced productivity in the agriculture sector in Pakistan is also dependent on favourable weather conditions as both prolonged or heavy rains as well dry seasons could adversely affect crops. A better irrigation system with equal opportunities to the tail enders and regular electricity supply to the tube wells could greatly help the sector in this regard. Farmers also need to be motivated to use proper kinds of fertilisers and supplied with the right kind of inputs including seeds. Extension services have been largely upgraded in Punjab and similar services should also be provided in other provinces to guide farmers. In short, though we are pleased with the efforts of CPEP to cope with the CLCuV, there are still many areas to be covered to enhance the potential of the agriculture sector in the country.