MULTAN, Feb 21: The Standing Committee on Cotton Crop Assessment in its meeting held here on Saturday maintained its previous estimate of 10m bales of cotton production for the year 2003-04.

State Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Haji Sikander Hayat Bosan presided over the SCCCA meeting attended by all the stakeholders of the domestic cotton market except the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association.

It was decided that the final meeting of the SCCCA would be held in the last week of March. Mr Bosan said a comprehensive cotton policy would soon be announced taking all the stakeholders into confidence.

According to an official handout, the meeting dilated upon the recent developments in cotton production in the light of cotton arrival figures released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association on February 17, and what the handout claimed objective assessment of the likely final crop size in the wake of possible increment during the rest of the season.

The SCCCA expects further arrivals of phutti (cottonseed) as some 483 ginneries are still in operation as against 258 working during the corresponding period last year. Hence, the committee estimated the crop size in the current cotton year at 10m bales on ex-farm basis with the share of provinces as: Punjab (7.7m bales); Sindh (2.25m bales); Balochistan (0.122m bales); and NWFP (0.012m bales).