Cotton crop has been cultivated over 2.69 million hectares across Pakistan during the current sowing season—a 1 per cent rise over the last season—to produce 14 million bales, which is enough to meet the domestic demand and the requirement for exports, according to Khalid Abdullah, cotton commissioner in the ministry of national food security and research.

Crop cultivation targets were achieved by over 91 per cent this season, he said.

Overall cotton sowing in Punjab province registered about 11 per cent growth while in the Sindh province, it decreased by 40 per cent because of low sowing trend due to dry weather during the crop sowing time and shortage of water for irrigation, according to Pakistani media reports.

Cotton prices in the local markets are stable, which is an encouraging sign for farmers to grow more crop for maximizing their profit, he said.
Meanwhile, exports of raw cotton from the country during the last fiscal ending June 30 had registered over 33.65 per cent growth compared to the previous fiscal’s figures, he added.

During the period under review, about 521,959 metric tons of cotton yarn worth US$ 1.371 billion was also exported as compared the 458,074 metric tons valuing US$ 1.243 billion of the same period last year, according data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

During fiscal 2017-18, export of cotton yarn grew by 10.30 per cent compared to the corresponding period in the previous fiscal, whereas the exports of yarn other than cotton grew by 38.85 per cent. (DS)