Cotton production has seen a promising start this year despite the looming uncertainty from temperature, Monsoon, and pest attacks.
Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PGCA) has reported that 0.858 million bales have reached ginning factories by July 15 while Sindh accounts for the major share of 0.659 million bales, more than half of which came from a single district of Sanghar.
Punjab contributed 0.2 million bales with Khanewal district having the most share at 37,983 bales while Vehari and Sahiwal stood second and third respectively with 31,502 and 24,100 bales.
It’s the first time since 2015 that so many ginning factories have become operational this early in the season and the first time the cotton arrivals have spiked to current levels in the month of July.
The government has set the cotton production target at 12.7 million bales from 2.764 million hectares in the current seasons which is ambitious given it’s three times compared to the last year’s production though it was largely destroyed by floods.
The province-wise production target set for cotton season 2023 included 8.336 million bales for Punjab, 4 million bales for Sindh, 430,000 bales in Balochistan, and 4,000 bales for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Source: Pro Pakistani