ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Textile Industry is submitting a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, demanding timely allocation of funds for intervening in the cotton market to bring stabilization in domestic cotton market.
In this regard the Trading Corporation of Pakistan would also be directed to purchase seed cotton (phutti) instead of lint cotton, said an offical of the Ministry of Textile Industry here Friday.
The initiative will help the farmers to get the maximum benefit of their produces and cotton prices will remain stable during the coming crop season, he added.
He further informed that Federal Committee on Cotton, after due deliberations, agreed to set the target of 15.1 million bales (170 kgs) for 2014-15 to fulfill the domestic requirements of the commodity.
Cotton is the corner stone of the textile sector which contributes 55 percent to Pakistan's exports, however, during the last ten years, cotton production has remained stagnant at around 12 or 13 million bales per annum, he added.
In view of revitalization of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, a massive training programme for cotton growers in modern production technologies, and better crop extension services committed by the provinces has also been started, he added.
The official further said that federal government will play its role in enhancing cotton production and would ensure minimum support price for cotton farmers.
He said that the Federal Minister for Textile Industry has directed that in the coming cotton season, the Trading Corporation of Pakistan would be directed to purchase seed cotton instead of lint cotton for providing benefit to farmers and for remaining prices stable in domestic markets.
It may be recalled here that Federal Cotton Committee in its last meeting has fixed the cotton production targets at 15.1 million bales.
In Punjab Province crop would be cultivated over 2.428 million hectares of land to produce about 10.500 million cotton bales, while in Sindh Province production targets has been set at 4.200 million bales for the period under review by cultivating the crop over 0.650 million hectares of land.
In Balochistan crop production targets were set at 0.0015 million bales by bringing under 0.050 million hectares of land under cotton crop production during the season.
For harnessing the true cotton crop potential in the province of khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the FCC decided to bring about 0.00035 million hectares of land under crop production to produce 0.00035 million cotton bales during the period under review.
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