Cotton sowing in Pakistan witnessed a 14 per cent growth this cotton season compared to the figure in the same period last year. During the current season, cotton was cultivated over 2.65 million hectares to produce over 12.72 million bales. The sowing target for the 2019-20 crop season was 2.78 million hectares, said cotton commissioner Khalid Abdullah.

Abdullah said cotton cultivation is over for around 95.2 per cent of the targeted land area, according to Pakistani media reports.

Cotton growing in the Punjab province recorded about 9 per cent growth as an area of 2.044 million hectares was under the crop compared to the target of 2.145 million hectares. The production target for the province was 7.9 million bales during this season, he said.

Cotton sowing in Sindh increased by 35 per cent compared to the corresponding period last season. In Sindh, crop was cultivated over 0.608 million hectares as against the set target of 0.64 million hectares to produce about 4.6 million cotton bales during the period under review, he said. Sindh achieved 95 per cent of its sowing target.

The crop was cultivated over 0.02 million hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 0.2 million hectares in Balochistan. (DS)