Sindh govt demands federal govt increase cotton support price up to Rs 11,000/maund

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Monday demanded of the federal government to increase the support price for cotton up to Rs 11,000 per maund to incentivize farmers to cultivate more cotton.

Last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had fixed the cotton support price at Rs8,500 per 40-kg aimed at encouraging farmers to cultivate more cotton. However, now the Sindh government has asked for increase in the cotton support price due to massive surge in the cost of production.

Minister of Agriculture and Anti-Corruption, Sardar Muhammad Bux Mahar, urging the federal government, said the support price of cotton should be set from the current level of Rs 85,000 by at least Rs 10,000 per mound or maximum Rs 11,000 per mound to address the issue of inadequate pricing and high cost of production, which has resulted in farmers refraining from cultivating cotton, consequently leading to severe hardships for farmers in Sindh.

Minister of Agriculture has further emphasized that the current target for cotton cultivation in Sindh for the current year stands at 640,000 hectares. However, the sowing of cotton in Sindh has declined by 20 percent due to the increased costs of fertilizers, seeds, petroleum products, and agricultural medicines, which have escalated the expenses for farmers.

Mahar highlighted the predicament faced by farmers, said that if farmers did not receive a fair price for cotton in the previous season, they would be reluctant to undertake cultivation during this cotton season. He stressed the need for the federal government to ensure a support price of Rs 11,000 per mound to incentivize and facilitate the farmers to cultivate more cotton.

He said that when farmers receive a good price, they will cultivate cotton, which is essential for the country’s textile industry. Concerns were also raised about the shortage of water allocated to Sindh at the beginning of the cropping season. Failure to provide Sindh with its due share of water could result in a reduction in the cultivation of agricultural crops such as cotton and rice.

Minister of Agriculture Sindh has also highlighted the water shortage issue and urged the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to provide water to Sindh under the three-tier formula.

He said that the shortage of water allocation could result in irreparable losses during the cropping season for crops such as cotton, rice, sugarcane, and other crops and it will directly hit the GDP growth of the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024