Raza Khan

Textile exporters have warned that decline in cotton production in the country would cause a major reduction in exports during the current fiscal year. “Decline in cotton production is directly hitting Pakistan’s textile exports, employment and income of the people,” Hamad Zaman, All Pakistan Textile Mills Associations (APTMA) North Zone Chairman, told WealthPK. Zaman said Pakistan could lose at least $2 to $3 billion of textile exports this year directly on account of low production of cotton.

“Increase in cotton production will have a direct impact of $1 billion per 1 million bales,” he informed. The APTMA North Zone chairman said that the estimated loss of cotton from last year’s floods was around 3.5 million bales, or 36% of the total crop, and the loss was valued at $1.5 billion. Zaman suggested the government engage various departments with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Textile Industry to formulate an urgent plan to increase the area of cotton cultivation.

“We need to take urgent measures to enhance cotton production, including increasing the area of cultivation and improving per hectare yield, by using modern techniques,” he added. “Per hectare yield is very low in Pakistan compared to other cotton producers,” he mentioned, adding that farmers shifting to other crops instead of cotton was also among the problems. Zaman informed that in order to avoid cotton shortage in the country, APTMA has decided to explore the international market to ensure procurement of quality cotton.

However, he said that imported cotton would be expensive and will impact the competitiveness of the value-added textile products. According to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), a year-on-year (YoY) decline of 34% was recorded in cotton production during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year. Cotton production was recorded at 4.912 million bales during July-March FY23 compared to 7.441 million bales during the corresponding period of FY22, with a shortage of 2.529 million bales. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan spent $1.828 billion to import 776,394 metric tons (MT) of raw cotton during 2021-22.

According to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, the production of cotton declined by 35.49% in Pakistan due to various reasons during last 12 years. Cotton production dropped to 8.33 million bales in 2021-22 from 12.91 million bales during 2009-10, the ministry said in a report. The area of cotton cultivation also dropped by 37.52% to 1.94 million hectares during 2021-22 from 3.11 million hectares during 2009-10, said the report.

Low-quality seeds and pesticides, high insect infestation, low profitability of cotton crop, and climate-related issues have been identified as major factors behind the decrease in cotton productivity. Although the government has taken several measures to improve the country’s cotton productivity, nothing worked. The government continues to heavily subsidise the supply of inputs like seed, fertilisers, credit, pesticides and energy for farmers besides introducing basic support price of raw cotton.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk