KARACHI, July 29: Heavy monsoon rains could cut cotton output in Sindh because of standing water in the farmlands and the increased risk of pest infestation, officials and traders said Tuesday.

However, the impact of the rains on the main cotton-growing province of Punjab - which accounts for 75pc of the country’s total cotton production - has been minimal because the crop there is at the plantation stage, said Chaudhry Arshad, breeding expert at the Cotton Research Institute in Multan.

“The fresh rains in lower Sindh since last night are posing a danger to the crop, but it is too early to predict the exact damage,” said a senior researcher at the Ministry of Agriculture in Islamabad. “The danger is posed by standing water in areas of Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah” in lower Sindh which produce 50pc of the crop in the province, he said.

The official said it would take two days to assess the damage when the water starts receding.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department said in its latest forecast on Monday that a monsoon depression over eastern Rajasthan would cause “heavy to very heavy rainfall” in Sindh during the next 48 hours.

Pakistan has forecast cotton output this year at 10.55 million bales with 25pc of the crop expected to come from Sindh. Each bale weighs 170 kg. Last year, the crop stood at 10.1 million bales.

Crop planting begins in late April and harvesting starts in late July. The crop arrivals end in March.

Akbar Hashwani, a cotton trader and the chairman of the Karachi Cotton Exchange, said the major rains have hit the Badin district northeast of Karachi where cotton farming is low.

A government cotton researcher said the biggest threat to the crop is posed by pest attacks that increase with the rise in humidity.

Despite the possible threat to output, prices on the Karachi Cotton Exchange have remained for the past week in the range of Rs2,400-2,500 a maund, traders said. Each maund equals 37.32 kg.

Hashwani said textile demand has been slow because of depressed demand for Pakistani yarn in Southeast Asia following the spread of Sars in the region earlier in the year.—Dow Jones Newswires