Cotton production falls 34pc
THE NEWSPAPER'S STAFF REPORTER— PUBLISHED ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO
KARACHI: The country has so far produced 9.727 million bales this season, a decline of 34 per cent compared to 14.705m bales a year ago.
The cotton crop failure is not only crippling growers financially, it has also hurt country’s entire economy and resulted in billions of dollars loss which is going to negatively reflect in the lower GDP growth for this fiscal year.
Exporters cite poor and uncertified seed, fertiliser and pesticide as major causes for crop failure. Besides, heavy rains and floods of last year also had their toll on the standing cotton crop.
The fortnightly figures (Feb 15 to March 1) released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association (PCGA) on Thursday draw a dismal picture, showing a drastic fall of up to 44.5pc in production in Punjab, which heavily impacted the entire output.
Punjab’s output has plunged to 5.961m from 10.741m produced in the same period of last season.
The situation in Sindh is somewhat better where cotton crop stands short by 5pc at 3.766m bales as against 3.964m bales a year earlier.
Spinners say around 3.2m bales have been imported by the industry to meet the shortfall. The spinners have purchased 8.546m from the domestic market so far compared to 13.86m bales last year.
Exporters also purchased less cotton at 361,241 bales compared to 470,827 bales in the same period of last year. Ginners have 819,870 bales of unsold stocks as against 845,530 bales they held in the same period last year.
The fortnightly flow of phutti during Feb 15 to March 1 stood at 40,653 bales versus 111,957 bales recorded in the same period last season.
Only 41 ginning units are operating in Punjab and six in Sindh, compared to 135 and 21 last year.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243374/cotton-production-falls-34pc
THE NEWSPAPER'S STAFF REPORTER— PUBLISHED ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO
KARACHI: The country has so far produced 9.727 million bales this season, a decline of 34 per cent compared to 14.705m bales a year ago.
The cotton crop failure is not only crippling growers financially, it has also hurt country’s entire economy and resulted in billions of dollars loss which is going to negatively reflect in the lower GDP growth for this fiscal year.
Exporters cite poor and uncertified seed, fertiliser and pesticide as major causes for crop failure. Besides, heavy rains and floods of last year also had their toll on the standing cotton crop.
The fortnightly figures (Feb 15 to March 1) released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association (PCGA) on Thursday draw a dismal picture, showing a drastic fall of up to 44.5pc in production in Punjab, which heavily impacted the entire output.
Punjab’s output has plunged to 5.961m from 10.741m produced in the same period of last season.
The situation in Sindh is somewhat better where cotton crop stands short by 5pc at 3.766m bales as against 3.964m bales a year earlier.
Spinners say around 3.2m bales have been imported by the industry to meet the shortfall. The spinners have purchased 8.546m from the domestic market so far compared to 13.86m bales last year.
Exporters also purchased less cotton at 361,241 bales compared to 470,827 bales in the same period of last year. Ginners have 819,870 bales of unsold stocks as against 845,530 bales they held in the same period last year.
The fortnightly flow of phutti during Feb 15 to March 1 stood at 40,653 bales versus 111,957 bales recorded in the same period last season.
Only 41 ginning units are operating in Punjab and six in Sindh, compared to 135 and 21 last year.
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1243374/cotton-production-falls-34pc
