Amid the decline in cotton production in Pakistan, the textile exporters are urging the government to allow import of cotton from neighboring India.

Ijaz Khokhar, chief coordinator of the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association told Arab News, that they have approached the Advisor to Prime Minister on Trade and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood in this regard.

“We have requested him (Dawood) to allow the import of cotton for at least a brief period of four to six months since that will allow us to deliver our export orders without delay,” he said, adding that the prime minister’s aide had “agreed to look into the matter.”

Khokhar informed that the local exporters cannot use Chinese cotton due to the US embargo

Earlier, Dawood said people from the industry had been demanding to make changes in duties and taxes in textile sector. However, he ruled out any changes in duties and import of cotton from India to bridge shortfall. He hoped that the country would have better cotton crop next year.

The cotton production in the country had witnessed a consistent decline since 2017-18 when it reached 11.9 million bales. Following on from 2017-18, the cotton production in 2018-19 declined by 17.5 per cent to 9.8 million bales, revealed the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI). They said that in 2019-20, the cotton production further declined by 6.9 per cent to 9.18 million bales. It is worth mentioning that in recent times, the cotton production touched a peak of 13.96 million bales in 2014-15.

Meanwhile, the yield of cotton has also declined consistently since 2017-18 when it reached 753 (kg/hectare). After that, the yield declined by 6.1 per cent to 707 (kg/hectare) in 2018-19 and further declined by 12.6 per cent to 618 (kg/hectare). It is pertinent to mention that the yield reached 802 (kg/hectare) in 2014-15.