Senate body seeks spadework for upcoming cotton crop

ISLAMABAD: A senate body on Wednesday asked Pakistan Central Cotton Committee to submit details of the preparations for the cotton sowing and arrangements made for kharif 2019 and the availability of certified seeds, fertilisers and other inputs during the season to achieve the set production targets.

Senate standing committee on national food security and research met with senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah in the chair.

Shah said crop zoning is vital for sustainable agriculture growth and national food security. He underscored the need for proper regulation of industries to avoid crop shifting issues.

“Crop zoning would also help in efficient use of natural resources, including soil fertility, water and environment.”

Cotton Commissioner Khalid Abdullah said area under cotton sowing fell 26 percent, posing serious threat to the production of major exportable cash crop.

Up to December 15, around 9.96 million of bales have arrived in the local market for ginning, as well as for exporting compared with the arrival of 10.6 million bales during the same period of the last year, he said.

The committee expressed concerns over the non-implementation of its directive by Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Supply Corporation to set up warehouses in Umerkot and directed its head to submit details of correspondence on land accusation with the Sindh government.

Food Security Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmad Gopang said wheat crop has been cultivated over 8.011 million hectares of land across the crop producing areas of the country as against the set target of 8.833 million hectares.

Gopang said crop sowing has been completed over 90.7 percent areas by the middle of December compared with the same period of the last year.

The commissioner said Punjab has achieved the sowing targets by 95 percent, Sindh 73 percent, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 94 percent, and Balochistan 71 percent. Wheat has been cultivated over 6.155 million hectares in Punjab, 0.845 million hectares in Sindh, 0.725 million hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and over 0.286 million hectares of land in Balochistan, he added.

Gopang said healthy wheat crop output is expected during the current season. Expected rains in January would bring multi-pull impact on wheat plant and help in its healthy growth to boost productivity.

Around eight million tons carry forward stocks are available in the country, whereas the government has allowed exports of 500,000 tons, he said.

Wheat seed requirements for Punjab was estimated at 820,000 tons and of the total required quantum, around 73 percent certified seeds are available, whereas the total seed requirements during the current season was recorded at 1,085,000 metric tons and 30 percent certified seed would be available for cultivation.

Yusuf Zafar, chairman of Pakistan Agriculture Research Council said the council developed and distributed 27 varieties of various crops for cultivation during the last fiscal year, while it had so far developed around 154 varieties of different crops.