All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has asked the government to fix the cotton support price at Rs8,000/maund to help farmers increase cotton production. APTMA said the suggested support price was based on an international New York future cotton price of Grade-III of $ 1.25/lb. In line with the international price of December 2022 and was well below the currently prevailing market price of $1.45/lb.
Overall cotton area in this decade has declined by 33 percent to 1.9 million hectares from 2.9 million hectares. Almost 1.5 million farmers grow cotton, out of which 75 percent is grown in Punjab while the rest is grown in Sindh. The cotton area in Punjab has decreased by 50 percent to 1.28 million hectares in 2022 from 2.53 million hectares in 2012.
The productivity had fallen by 36 percent to 520kgs per hectare in 2022 from 814kgs per hectare in 2012. APTMA said cotton had lost one million hectares during the last decade, and if the area reverted to cotton, the country would produce an extra 5 million bales, it envisaged. It would add 1.523 percent to GDP, saving the country $5 billion directly.
The textile sector is the backbone of Pakistan’s GDP. The increasing prices of cotton are a big concern for the textile sector. The cotton prices directly affect all the textile value chains in the country. Thus, fixing cotton prices could provide a huge relief and ease of mind to the business community.
