The first meeting of the committee met in Multan under the chairmanship of Shahid Rashid, Secretary Ministry of Textile Industry to assess the volume of current cotton crop in the country, said a statement received here.

Dr. Khalid Abdullah, Cotton Commissioner, Ministry of Textile Industry, dilated upon the facts and figures in cotton production during current crop season viz-a-viz last year and market situation with a view to have an objective assessment of the likely crop size this season.

The Committee was informed that cotton crop was sown on the area of 0.58 million hectares in Sindh and 2.356 million hectares in Punjab.

Moreover, this year cotton crop was planted on 7 percent and 12 percent less than that of last year in Punjab and Sindh provinces, respectively.

The main reasons for less sowing during the crop season 2012-13 were low prices during last year, shortage of irrigation water at the time of cotton sowing, and comparatively higher incidence level of CLCuV during the current year.

Moreover, the country also witnessed heavy rains during September which damaged an area of 234,982 acres in Punjab and Sindh provinces.

The Committee after taking into the consideration the data provided by the provincial governments, the latest cotton arrival position, and other factors such as Plant Population, bolls per plant, boll weight, CLCuV incidence, rains and flood dameges, etc. and estimated the crop size as 12.66 million bales of 170 kgs.

Secretary Mintex, Shahid Rashid also asked the PCGA to standardize the weight of bales to 170 kgs.

The committee also decided to review these projected estimates of production in its next meeting on December 5, 2012.