Growers urge TCP to buy their cotton

Millions of cotton growers are incurring huge financial losses due to monopoly of textile sector and they would be ruined if the government did not ask the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure their cotton, said Amanullah Qureshi, Chairman of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), Muhammad Akram, an ex-chairman, and Shehzad Ali Khan, spokesman of the association at a press conference here on Saturday.
They said that such elements are enemies of growers, employing delaying tactics in cotton procurement. They warned the government that farmers would play a decisive role in the coming election if the government did not redress their grievances and left them on the mercy of 'beoparis' and textile millers then they may cast their right of vote against the present regime. Then there would be no option of even repenting on the mistakes. They said that cotton growers and ginners of Sindh were being fleeced by textile sector because their produce is being purchased at throwaway rates.
Aman said that banks had stopped the debt limits of ginners and now they are unable to purchase raw cotton (phutti) from the growers on cash. He reiterated his demand to implement the relief package for ginners of flood hit areas, remit the mark-up on the loans, and advances be made on soft terms and conditions. He said that the government should make arrangements for purchase of low-quality and grade-III cotton immediately otherwise ginners would be forced to stop purchasing 'phutti'.
He demanded declaring National Cotton Policy with the consent of all stakeholders and support price of cotton be announced for the rescue of the sinking growers. He said that more than 14 million bales of cotton were expected during the current season, in spite of the fact that 2 million bales were destroyed due to floods in Sindh.
Amanullah said that farmers had made huge investments to get bumper crop during this season but the government did not appreciate them. He also suggested that the government should allow export of cotton without any hindrance and there should be no condition of depositing the surety amount and adopting the complicated procedure.