PCGA rejects new cotton varieties

New cotton varieties evolved and approved by Punjab Seed Council were rejected by Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) describing them injurious to farmers and harmful to the agriculture sector. Addressing a hurriedly called press conference here on Saturday.
PCGA Chairman Amanullah Qureshi, alongwith Vice Chairman Haji Mukhtar Ahmed Baloch, Group leader Haji Muhammad Akram, Rao Sadar-uddin and Shehzad Ali Khan, has warned that ginners would not purchase the cotton of these two varieties if anyone sown this seed.
He appealed to the farmers not to cultivate those varieties in any case and they should resist against forced marketing of those seeds. He said Punjab Seed Council (PSC) had approved two newly evolved cotton varieties of FH-114 and BT-121 under obligation which has micronaire of merely 5.5 & 5.6 and these are Hi mic varieties which had short staple length, while world was demanding cotton of long staple.
Amanullah Qureshi said that Agricultural science was advancing in the world but our agricultural scientists were moving backward. They are playing with the future of the farmers besides destructing the agricultural sector. He said Punjab Chief Minister should take notice of Punjab Seed Council's harmful and destructive role.
He said that Agricultural scientists should evolve new varieties which were acceptable in world market and they should frame pro-farmers as well as ginners' policies. Qureshi said PCGA had opposed the approval of those varieties in a meeting chaired by Ahmed Ali Aulakh, Provincial Agriculture Minister but our proposals were not entertained due to political pressure as well as monetary gain.
He said Pakistan would lose international market if we promote such varieties of low quality. The consumption of cotton by textile mills in Pakistan would increase following the decision of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to allow duty-free exports of 75 Pakistani items to EU for a two-year period, PCGA said.
PCGA Chairman Amanullah Qureshi said the cotton consumption by domestic textile mills in Pakistan is likely to surge upto 13 million bales of 170 kg each, compared to the current consumption of around 11 million bales per season. The approval of EU package for Pakistan by WTO's Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) would boost export orders for yarn and fabrics, which would, in turn, raise the cotton consumption of spinners and textile mills across Pakistan, he said.
This factor, along with the current trend of rising international prices, would result in an increase in the prices of cotton in the domestic market to Rs 6,500-7,000 per maund (1 maund = 40 kg), he added. The PCGA Chairman said cotton growers and ginners would now get fair returns on their produce. The EU nations are the largest trade partners of Pakistan as they account for over 30 percent of the country's total exports, Qureshi said.
Textiles constitute more than 70 percent of Pakistan's total exports to EU countries and raw cotton as well as value-added textile products will stand to gain the most due to the latest WTO decision, he added. Currently, Pakistan exports goods worth €3.5 billion per annum to EU. Of this, the 75 items that are in the EU list alone account for about €921 million each year.