Cotton production in Punjab and Sindh has plummeted by a staggering 60 percent, signaling severe challenges ahead for Pakistan’s textile industry.
A discrepancy of over 0.3 million bales between crop figures reported by Punjab’s Crop Reporting Service (CRS) and the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has left the industry uncertain about its future procurement strategies.
According to the data from the PCGA, only 1.226 million bales had reached ginning factories nationwide by August 31, marking a sharp 60 percent decline from the 3.04 million bales recorded during the same period last year.
This dramatic decrease in cotton output is attributed to several factors: a reduction in early sowing, prolonged heatwaves in June and July that caused fruit shedding, heavy August rains, whitefly and pink bollworm infestations, shrinking crop acreage, the absence of a government intervention price, market manipulation by vested interests, declining crop profitability, and insufficient government support for research and development.
The PCGA report highlights that Sindh’s cotton production has dropped to 0.773 million bales this year from 1.972 million bales during the same period last year, a 61 percent decline.
