Punjab increases cotton cultivation area from four to five million acres

Punjab, the largest cotton-producing province in Pakistan, has agreed to the federal government’s request to increase its sowing target for cotton cultivation from four to five million acres.

Earlier Punjab informed the federal government that cotton sowing had declined over the years due to greater acceptability of competing crops by the growers. It said that the mere announcement of a higher target would not work. To boost cotton cultivation some incentives must be provided to the cotton farmers. The provincial government has taken some steps in this regard. For instance, to ensure the availability of high-yielding certified  seeds it has approved 12 cotton seed varieties this year. Moreover the government of Punjab is providing a subsidy of Rs1000/bag on 12 selected approved varieties of cotton, while Rs11 billion has been provided for subsidy on urea fertilizer. The support price has been set at Rs8500/40kg for the current season. The Punjab government is also considering a markup subsidy on loans to cotton farmers.

The target of cotton sowing for this year has been set at 5.0 million acres with a production target of 8.226 million bales. The share of South Punjab in cotton production has been assessed at 91 percent.  About 2.134 million acres of cotton will be brought under cotton cultivation in Bahawalpur Division, while the cotton will be cultivated on 1.269 million acres in Multan Division. The provincial government directed staff concerned to ensure the availability of quality agricultural inputs to the farmers during the cotton season this year, holding the staff of Agriculture Extension and Pest Warning responsible for this activity. Besides, a procedure should be devised for giving cash prizes to farmers and staff in recognition of their services to encourage them for growing cotton in a larger area. 

Earlier Punjab argued that competing crops like sugarcane, corn, rice, and now oilseed and pulses have squeezed the cotton cultivation area to a great extent.