KARACHI: Chairman Karachi Cotton Broker's Forum and senior member of Cotton Advisory Committee of KCA Naseem Usman while addressing a press conference on Friday in KCA Brokers Advisory Committee Room has said the production of mere 5.6 million cotton bales in Pakistan was "alarming".

He said that enhanced collaboration among all stakeholders including growers, ginners, weavers, KCA and exporters is required to revive the cotton crop and boost its production.

Naseem said that unfortunately the cotton production in Pakistan was badly hit due to shifting of cotton areas to sugarcane crop and the lack of research for new varieties of quality seeds.

He stressed the need for ensuring the crop zoning in order to stop farmers from switching to other crops which would be largely beneficial for agriculture sector development and economic growth.

He said that there isdire need for revamping seed production technologies in order to enhance per-acre crop output and maximize farmers' income to compete in international markets as well as fulfilling the domestic raw materials needs of the industry.

Naseem said that due to severe decline in cotton production up till now 800 units of ginning industry had closed their units. The cotton ginning industry has the ginning capacity of two crore bales but the capacity is reduced to 55 lac bales due to decline in cotton production.

Instead of relying on imported cotton we should evolve a comprehensive strategy for increasing the production of cotton in the country, he added.

He suggested the government to abolish all kinds of taxes including sales tax and other taxes for the revival of cotton so that farmers can get reasonable price.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021