Cotton sowing in crisis

by Muhammad Ahmad and Dr Ahmad Saeed Bhatti

Cotton is an important cash crop and lifeline of textile industry. It accounts for 8.2 per cent of the value-added in the agriculture sector and about two per cent to GDP, adds over $2.8 billion to the national economy. Millions of farmers are directly associated with cultivation and harvesting of cotton crop and sale of lint. Many others are indirectly linked with cotton value chain. Thus, livelihood of millions of farmers and of those employed along the entire cotton value chain is dependent on this single crop.

The government has an ambitious plan to expand textile industry by the year 2008. This will make room for incremental three million bales. To meet that demand, the country needs to boost its cotton production. According to an estimate increasing one million bales in cotton production means half a percent increase into GDP. That is the reason why it is called silver fiber.

During the last many years, cultivated area of cotton has been on increase. In the fiscal year 2005-06, cotton was cultivated over 7.65 million acres compared to 7.25 million acres in 2002-03. But the desired target of cotton production remained a distant dream as it was largely below target. Pakistan is the world's fourth largest cotton producer and a leading exporter of yam. It is, therefore, stringent efforts are required in many areas to improve cotton production to meet not only the export demand but also domestic requirements.

There is reduction of 13 per cent in cotton production in accordance with economic survey 2005-06. Cotton crop harvest for 2005-06 was 12.4 million bales as against 14.3 million bales last year whereas the area under cotton crop since last two decades has been on an average between 7.12 and 7.42 millions acres. Because of low cotton production, Pakistan annually has to import 1.5-2 million bales to meet expanding demand of local textile mills. Moreover, the country has been losing some 10-15 per cent of value of its cotton due to poor quality. Improper picking methods, adulteration of cotton with water and other material, missed grades and seed varieties and improper packing, storage and transportation means are responsible for poor quality of cotton. Loss is amounting to $350 million per annum.

In this context, it is essential to ponder over the means and ways to improve cotton production in the country. The government is well aware of the overwhelming significance of cotton as lifeline of economy. It is looking for different options to visualize Cotton Vision 2015 of 20.70 million bales production. This is only possible making constant efforts in the field of research and for increasing the lint yield per acre by adopting modem production techniques.

Increase in cotton production could be achieved either by enhancing area under cotton crop or per care lint yield or both. But the option to increase area under cotton cultivation cannot be exercise because of lack of supply of irrigation water and the two major cotton-growing provinces of Punjab and Sindh are already at their maximum level. Cotton crop faces competition from other crops as well that is also a constraint in bringing more area under this crop. However, possibility is there to increase cultivation of cotton in different district of Balochistan like Sibi, Nasirabad and Kalat divisions and NWFP districts like D. I. Khan. However, main obstacle is the shortage of water beside lack of agro infrastructure and geopolitical uncertainty in these areas.

Only option is to increase per acre lint yield by applying modem cotton technologies that have successfully been adopted in many developed and developing countries to improve crop yields.

Presently cotton crop is facing a number of constraints, including low per acre yield that ranks Pakistan 10th in the world; high price of agriculture inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc); higher intensity of insects and pests attack; shortage of good quality, high-yielding, insect and pests resistant varieties of seeds; deficiency of irrigation water; lack of advance technologies; lack of awareness and agro-professionalism; and adulterations in pesticides, fertilizers and seeds. Above all natural factors like unexpected rain, drought, and floods especially in southern Punjab and Sindh. The yield remains low because unfavorable weather conditions at the time of sowing affect germination causing re-sowing of crop, increase incidence of pest attack in the early growth of the crop as well as at the time of flowering and boll formation, decrease in the number of boils and weight and higher weed intensity.

Cotton sowing in the southern Punjab is facing multiple problems and is still stuck to around eight percent mark even in mid-May. The ideal sowing time, which is the month of May for the core cotton areas, is running out but the farmers still have no water to plant their crop. Non-perennial canals mainly feeding the core cotton areas started running on May 5 instead of April 15, causing a loss of 20 crucial days. Another reason is the late harvesting of wheat and bumper sugarcane cropland is still occupied, and is preventing farmers to sow cotton. The drought-like situation due to almost total absence of monsoon rain and shortage of water in the irrigation canals last year, the agricultural products were badly hit in the province of Sindh in a number of ways. An acute water shortage has hit cotton sowing on 200,000 acres with Nawabshah growers facing heavy financial losses. Dad and Nusrat irrigation divisions are in water rotation schedules for last couple of months. Water still had not arrived in the entire area and canals were running at a level much lower than the required.

The other option was of tube wells but the rural areas were having a 10-hour daily load shedding on an average that made it impossible for them to pump water. Growers of four talukas from district Sanghar, Sindh are facing the onslaught as standing sugarcane, banana, and vegetable crops are not being supplied with water. Growers have held several demonstrations demanding irrigation minister and concerned officials to ensure regular water supply but in vain.

The Meteorological department has warned of a possible drought in the country with no signs of any significant rainfall over the next two months and water levels in Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs dropping to critical points. The drought, feared to hit Sindh and Balochistan first, will have a bad impact on efforts to achieve this year's cotton sowing target and affect livestock, horticulture and human lives throughout the country.

Reports coming from the major cotton growing areas of Southern Punjab indicate that sowing is well in progress and in some areas it has been completed with the help of tube wells, despite shortage of irrigation water in the canal system. The government has been urged to encourage ridge sowing in cotton areas to combat the water crisis looming large for the coming kharif season.

The government should allow cultivation of BT cotton so that the country's cotton production could be increased and per acre yield could be maximized. In addition to this, less expenditure on pesticide would definitely reduce the cost of production of the farmers. Late announcement of the support price mostly at the time of harvesting, farmers are confused and are unable to decide, which crop they should cultivate, either cotton or rice. Water drought has abandoned them to sow rice, in spite of high prices of rice. Government should not to repeat the mistake of late announcing of wheat support price, which created a crisis in the country. Pakistan is the only country, which charges sales tax on fertilizer and pesticides. It should be removed at once in the interest of farmers and civil society. Recently, cotton price have increased Rs. 50 per maund, but farmers are not sure whether they would harvest this benefit or not.