Textile exports in peril: country may miss cotton sowing target
Textile exports in peril: country may miss cotton sowing target
The country is likely to miss cotton sowing target by about 5 to 6 percent in the current season for 2014-15 with a consequent negative impact on textile exports, official sources revealed.
Sources in the Ministry of Textile Industry told Business Recorder that cotton sowing remained below the target due to low price of cotton during the last few years, water shortages during the sowing period and prolonged winter season.
The government has fixed cotton production target for the next season (2014-15) at 15.1 million bales from an area of 7.72 million acres – 2.77 million bales higher than the revised estimates for the comparable period of last season.
Punjab is expected to produce 10.5 million cotton bales from 6 million acres, Sindh will cover 1.6 million acres and is projected to produce 4.2 million cotton bales, Balochistan will grow cotton on 0.12 million acres and is targeted to produce 0.4 million cotton bales and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa will cover about 74,000 acres and produce 0.0015 million cotton bales.
Officials said decline in cotton sowing was recorded in Punjab and Sindh which are the major cotton producing provinces. According to officials in Punjab the area under cotton cultivation was estimated at 6 million acres, however it was cultivated on about 5.7 million acres. Sindh grew cotton on about 1.4 million acres against the projection of 1.6 million acres.
Cotton sowing declined due to lower prices of cotton in the domestic and international markets during the last two years that discouraged growers who opted to cultivate maize, sugarcane and rice crops in some districts of Punjab due to their better market returns, officials added.
The government had set the cotton production target at 14.6 million bales for last season, but later revised it downward to 12.33 million bales following water shortage during sowing period, and later floods and rain. About one million cotton bales were destroyed during the last season, officials maintained.
However, the country has almost achieved the revised cotton production estimate of 12.33 million bales set for 2013-14, which would positively affect the country’s exports, especially to the EU countries under the GSP Plus facility, official added.