One Day Conference titled "Ino Cotton Grow Initiatives" kicked of at National Textile University (NTU) here on Tuesday in which 15 eminent Delegates from Germany and similar number from Pakistan participated and held meaningful deliberations.
Welcoming the distinguished guests, Dr Zafar Javaid, Registrar NTU, said that without any doubt the Cotton is most important textile fiber world-wide as 40 percent of global textile production is from Cotton, 50 percent from synthetic and 2 percent from cotton products of global merchandise but there are effects of water depletion on the other hand it effects water quality. He added that in many of major textile processing areas downstream riparian can be easily assessed from the river/stream. He said that irrigated cotton is mainly grown in Mediterranean and other warm climate regions, where fresh water is already in a short supply. Irrigated cotton cultivation is mainly located in dry regions: Egypt, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Dr Zafar Javaid further said that Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton seed producer in the world as average production (85 percent) is in Punjab and 9.5 percent to global market from Sindh. He said that Pakistan was on higher side of blue water consumption and stood at number 4 in 8 big countries.
He said that largest gross dilution volume exporters are China, USA and Pakistan, implying that international trade in cotton products is having largest impact on water quality in these countries. He added that the cotton products imported from Pakistan put a large pressure on Pakistan's scarce blue water resources. In china and even more so in India, the cotton is produced with lower inputs of blue water so that cotton products from China and India should put less stress per unit of cotton product on the scarce blue water than in Pakistan.
Dr Javaid opined that it might be one of the major motivating factors that have augmented the traditional sense of responsibility in our German friends and as a result we are sitting here to pave our way forward to cater for this vital issue. Concluding, he thanked all distinguished guests from Germany and Pakistan and wished them big success and extended a very passionate and warm welcome to them. He also appreciated, Dr Wasim Ibrahim, Chief Organizer and Dr Hafsa Jamshaid, Coordinator, of this International Conference.