ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cotton production has fallen sharply to 6.8 million bales in the 2025-26 season—34 percent below the target of 10.18 million bales.
According to an official document submitted to the Federal Committee of Agriculture (FCA) for the Rabi season, presided over by State Minister for National Food Security and Research Malik Rasheed Ahmed Khan, the estimated cotton production is 6.85 million bales from 2.0 million hectares.
The shortfall is attributed to multiple challenges, including climate change, unexpected rains and floods, pest infestations like White Fly and Pink Bollworm, Chilli Leaf Curl Virus Disease (CLCVD), limited seed technology, and competition with other crops.
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Earlier, the FCA meeting held on April 24 had fixed a production target of 10.18 million bales from 2.2 million hectares. This year, cotton was sown on 2.0 million hectares, 11.5 percent less than the target, the document says.
An official said that the meeting also set a wheat production target of 29.678 million tons for the Rabi season 2025-26 from 9.648 million hectares of land.
The committee reviewed the performance of Kharif Crops (2025-25) and set production targets for Rabi Crops (2025-2026), he said.
A senior official said that the meeting was informed that wheat seed procurement availability for sowing Rabi 2025-26 is 551467.63 metric tons, which will fulfil 49 percent of the total seed requirement of 1126444 metric tons. Wheat seed availability in Punjab is 515795.04 metric tons, Sindh 19351.98 metric tons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 16320.62 metric tons.
He said that FCA also set production targets for various other crops, including potatoes,8.91 million tons, onions, 2.78 million tons, gram,442,900 tons,lentil, 9,220 tons, and tomatoes,690,900 tons.
According to the official document, the meeting also reviewed the performance of Kharif Crops and was informed that in 2025-26, as rice was cultivated in an area of 3.70 million hectares, which is 5.0 percent below the last year’s area of 3.89 million hectares. Rice production is estimated to be 9.41 million tons, showing a decrease of 3.2 percent as compared to last year’s production of 9.72 million tons.
The official said that according to provincial government estimates, sugarcane was cultivated over an area of 1.146 million hectares in 2025-26, showing an increase of 5.9 percent over the last year. Estimated sugarcane production for the 2025-26 increased to 84.7 million tons from 84.2 million tons of last year’s production, showing an increase of 0.6 percent, he said.
During 2025-26, maize is cultivated on an area of 1.47 million hectares with an annual production of 8.4 million tons, reflecting a decrease of 7.1 percent and 6.8 percent in area and production, as compared to last year.
He said that the total estimated production of Mung bean in 2025-26 is 105,800 tons; mash production for 025-26 is 5.34 thousand tons from an area of 6.75 thousand hectares.
The official said that the concerned department also briefed the meeting about fertilizer off-take during Rabi 2025-26. Urea consumption during Rabi 2025-26 is estimated to be around 3,415,000 tons against 3,103,000 tons in the previous Rabi season, showing an increase of 10.1 percent, he said, adding that DAP off-take is projected to be around 894,000 tons, which is 5.5 percent higher than Rabi 2024- 25.
Total fertilizer off-take during Rabi 2025-26 is expected to increase by 9 percent over the previous Rabi. Regarding water availability, the IRSA Advisory Committee anticipated no shortage of water for Punjab and Sindh during Rabi 2025-26. The provinces have been allocated 33.814 million acre-feet (MAF) of water.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) official informed that overall, below-normal precipitation is expected in most parts of the country during November and December, while near-to-normal rains are expected in January 2026. The department clarified that the rumours circulating on social media regarding an extremely cold winter are baseless and false, he said.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of provincial agriculture departments, IRSA, PMD, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL), National Fertiliser Development Centre (NFDC), Agriculture Policy Institute (API), Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Department of Plant Protection (DPP), Federal Water Management, Pakistan Oil Seed Board, Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Cooperation, senior official of the MNFS&R, and the chairman of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025