July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

ISLAMABAD, July 24: Pakistan’s cotton vision programme targets cotton production to 15 million bales by 2010, official sources told APP here on Thursday.

The government is, therefore, determined to accelerate the cotton research and development process required to take a quantum jump in its production and for the qualitative improvement matching the industrial requirements.

At the same time, it also intends to facilitate all the stakeholders, particularly the growers, through both the price and non-price measures to safeguard their interests.

According to the sources the cotton policy 2003 is devised to offer a package of fiscal, technological, administrative and legislative measures to boost cotton production, ensure qualitative improvement, facilitate the growers and to safeguard the interest of all the stakeholders.

The policy thus encircles the areas along with the measures to ameliorate the cotton situation in the country.

Introduction of new cotton varieties and certified seed along with genetic base of commercial cotton varieties would greatly help increase per hectare yield and enhance cotton production.

Broad genetic base is very important for resistance against viruses and disease and adaptability in various agro- environments.

The new cotton policy envisages these parameters to increase productivity of the most valuable commodity for earning precious foreign exchange.

It is most important to diversify the genetic base and wide crosses may be attempted for stabilizing the cotton varieties to resist disease and commercial adaptability.

For this purpose, the policy proposed that the germplasm would be collected from all cotton growing countries.

The government realizes the necessity of continuing the support price mechanism for seed cotton in order to safeguard the growers’ interest.

The rise in cost of key farm inputs and wide fluctuations in cost of HSD necessitated that the government should review the support price of cotton.

Cotton is the life-line of Pakistan’s economy. Enhancing its volume and value has thus invariably remained the focal point in the national agricultural research and development strategies.

As a matter of fact, the economic significance of the cotton crop and the necessity to boost its production was realized soon after the independence, which led to the establishment of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee in 1948 for the improvement and development of the growing, marketing and manufacture of cotton.

Over the years, there has been significant improvement in cotton production. The quantum of cotton production has moved up sizably to over 10 million bales. The country is also producing long staple cotton of 1-1/8” and even longer.

The area under cotton has also increased considerably to about 3 million hectares and the expansion in cotton production has been instrumental in proliferation of the textile industry. Currently Pakistan is the third largest cotton consuming country in the world.—APP