Low cotton prices dismay growers

LAHORE: The cotton crop is currently facing a pest attack, but growers are not ready to spend any money on expensive pesticides owing to sharp fall in the prices of the commodity in the market, Pakistan Kisan Itehad (PKI) said in a statement on Tuesday.

Cotton prices for the last two weeks are on the decline for a week, touching as low as Rs2,500 per maund (40kg) in Sindh, whereas in Punjab they were hovering around Rs2800 to Rs3200 per maund, which is far below the cost of cultivation.

Representatives of Resultantly cotton growers are not making any money out of cotton production, the growers' body said, adding that’s why they were least bothered about application of costly pesticide and fertiliser.

This is the reason the cotton crop is being damaged by whitefly, thrips, and pink bollworm and turning into black due to subsequent development of sooty mold on affected leaves, the PKI observed.

It further said had the government been able to announce cotton support price to save the growers from losses and ultimately to the industry, farmers could have continued caring for the crop.