April 9, 2003	Wednesday	Safar 6, 1424

ISLAMABAD, April 8: Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) has drawn up a plan to promote cultivation of organic cotton and to make Pakistan self-sufficient in long staple cotton during 2003-04.

This is in pursuance of a decision that was taken by the Federal Committee on Agriculture in view of the increasing environmental concerns about the rising use of pesticides in the European Union, one of the main markets of Pakistani textiles.

The campaign is to be launched over an area of 150,000 acres including some parts of the coastal area of Balochistan.

In fact, a source in MINFAL told Dawn here on Tuesday, the EU too had suggested the production of organic cotton in order to obtain better price in the world market.

Moreover, production of Bt (as organic cotton is called) has already been permitted in China and India. It was, therefore, all the more necessary to allow the cultivation of this cotton. Some farmers, without waiting for the adoption by the government of a policy on the matter, have already started growing it on their fields, it was observed.

LONG STAPLE: The requirement of long and extra-long staple in Pakistan is one million bales, according to the textile industry. Most of it is imported at present.

Preliminary studies had shown that the coastal area of Balochistan was particularly suitable for production of this variety of cotton. Initiated in 1999, its cultivation will be launched in a full-fledged manner in Khuzdar and Bela areas.

In reply to a question, the Cotton Commissioner, Dr Kader Bakhsh Baluch said, the soil of the area was replete with moisture from the sea to allow optimal results. Besides, it will also be encouraged in selected areas of Punjab and Sindh, he added.

Responding to a question about the present situation on the cotton front, Dr Baluch said the main concern of MINFAL was to ensure that farmers receive reasonable prices for their product.

The initial estimate about the size of cotton crop this year — 10.1 million bales — had been more than vindicated. He did not rule out the possibility of actual output going up to 10.5 million bales.

The prices of ‘phutti’ at present are well above the support price of Rs800 per 40 kg. The price in the market at some places was as high as Rs1,100. He did not, therefore, think that there would be any incentive for the traders to export cotton.

This was, of course, not enough to meet the requirements of domestic industry which, according to their estimate, had increased from 11 million bales to around 12 million bales.

The opening stocks for 2001-02 were put by official circles at 1.934 million bales including 1.897 million with textile mills, 2,000 bales with exporters and 35,000 bales with the ginners. The APTMA, nevertheless, contests these figures. The opening stocks were 0.691 million bales including 0.654 million bales with the mills, they insist.

The quantity of cotton imported in 2001-02 reported by the Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) was 1.58 million bales (178-kg each), while the exports could not go beyond 0.241 million bales.

While there is no restriction on import/export of cotton, the export of cotton seems unlikely. But the same cannot be said about import in view of the tight supply situation in the international market.

According to information available from MINFAL, the world production of cotton in 2002-03 was 87.1 million bales against 98.83 million bales produced last year — denoting a decline of 10 per cent.

For 2003-04, the world output is estimated at 95.8 million bales against the projected consumption of 97 million bales. Despite expected increase in production, the world stocks are rather depleted because of fall in cotton output in 2002-03.

Consequently, the price of Liver Pool A index cotton during 2002-03 averaged 58 cents a pound. For the year 2003-04, the price of Liver Pool A index cotton is projected at 66 cents a pound by the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), based in Washington D.C.