MULTAN: The Pakistan Cotton Growers Association (PCGA) has demanded the government to take immediate notice of the crisis in cotton sector and take head-on measures to resolve the problems confronted the industry.
In a statement issued here on Friday, PCGA Chairman Chaudhry Waheed Arshad pointed out that without drastic measures on war-footing, wheat cultivation will not be possible in the country, which may result in food shortage and food crisis.
The government should save farmers from major economic crisis through timely steps, he stressed and added that the process of cotton purchase by the textile sector is stalled.
The ginning industry has stopped purchasing cotton as the textile sector is the sole and major buyer of white gold and farmers have stopped picking cotton as the market mechanism is badly affected, the PCGA chairman claimed.
The agriculture department is repeatedly issuing instructions to the farmers to cultivate wheat, while wheat cultivation is possible only when the farmers complete the sale of cotton and prepare the land for it, Mr Chaudhry said.
“The local production of edible oil is also decreasing because cotton seed is still in field”, he said, adding that last year Pakistan imported edible oil worth $7 billion. Moreover, due to lack of cotton seed crushing, its quality is deteriorating and livestock is being deprived of quality food.
A major crisis has arisen as the entire supply chain and stakeholders are affected, he disclosed.
By now the sale of the cotton crop should have been completed and the fields should be ready for wheat cultivation, the PCGA chairman maintained.
The ginners are not getting the best quality cotton and the ginning factories have turned into warehouses of unsold cotton. The increase in stocks has stopped the process of new purchases as the ginners are not financially able to make new purchases due to the existing stocks of cotton, he concluded.
