MULTAN, Oct 18: State Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikandar Hayat Bosan has attributed high cotton prices in the domestic market to the poor global crop this year.

In a press statement issued here on Saturday, the minister said that the estimated world cotton production this year was 92.8m bales as against the expected demand of 97.4m bales.

He said the Cotlook B index and the New York futures were currently ranging between 71.65 cents and 75.52 cents per pound of cotton. The minister observed that though the prices of seed cotton (phutti) and lint cotton were higher this year as compared to the corresponding period last year, they were still below the international parity prices.

Commenting on the crop condition, the minister said that its prospects were promising till the month of August but the flareup of pests such as Army and American bollworms in the month of September followed by the shortage of required pesticides affected the crop.

He said that phutti prices had touched the ‘all-time’ record high price of Rs1,550 per 40 kg as against the minimum fixed price of Rs850. “Therefore, the losses the growers may incur on account of low per acre yield due to pest flareup seemed to have either compensated or minimized,” he said.

Mr Bosan underlined the need of a collaborative effort from all the stakeholders of cotton market in the country to produce quality cotton. He said, however, it were the spinners who could encourage the growers and ginners for the production of quality cotton by paying premium prices for better grade and staple length.