MULTAN, Sept 18: Despite severe attacks of mealybug and leave curl virus (LCV) on the cotton crop all over the country, especially in the cotton belt of southern Punjab, the cotton experts are optimistic that the country will achieve the production target of 14 million bales.

The major disadvantages faced by cotton crop this year include two per cent reduction in cotton cultivated area, per acre lesser number of plants, severe virus attack, and short height of plants and poor generation level of seed.

Contrary to this there are few advantages also that helped cotton growers. These are early sowing of cotton in all those areas where potatoes were cultivated; heavy rains, favourable climatic condition and reduced virus pressure on crops except a new emerging pest mealybug.

Mealybug attack on cotton crop is a recent happening hence there is no pesticide, which could effectively eradicate the deadly pest. Although Rs500 million were allocated to launch a project to control the mealybug, the scientists in all cotton research institutes failed badly to introduce any mechanism that could encounter the deadly pest. Similarly, scientists also failed to develop disease-resistant seed varieties, including those curbing the threat of curve leaf virus.

As there was no specific pesticide for mealybug, pesticide companies are selling all kinds of pesticides, which created shortage of pesticides due to their excessive use in the early season.

All the federal and provincial cotton research institutes have miserably failed to introduce even a single variety of cotton seed that has not only the characteristic of yield potential but also has resistance quality against CLV.

It must be mentioned that a private breeder has introduced the variety of BT cotton but growers are not benefited by this variety because it has also failed to resist CLV.

During the last three years country did not face the shortage of pesticides. Last year, the government accepted tax relief demand of the pesticide companies on the undertaking that they will reduce the prices of their products by 25 per cent, but a fifty per cent increase was recorded in pesticide products prices even in early season.

According to the cotton experts the major reason for the shortage of pesticides was a single product promotion campaign launched by the ministry for food, agriculture and livestock (Minfal). The government imposed ten per cent regulatory duty on import of widely used pesticide Emamectin Benzoate.

After a strong protest by the cotton growers the federal government withdrew the duty in its budget 2007-08 but it was re-imposed and this time the percentage of duty imposed was ten per cent instead of five per cent earlier.

According to official sources the duty was imposed to encourage the manufacturing of pesticide in the country but farmers declared the import duty as unjustified before its manufacturing and commercial sale start. The government officials, however, claim that the manufacturing has started.

Due to the so-called manufacturing of the pesticide and imposition of 10 per cent duty on the import other pesticide companies did not import the pesticide creating shortage of pesticides at the start of spray season.

Despite the announcement of the subsidy on fertilisers by the government the prices of fertilisers did not reduce. This year DAP was available at Rs1,250 as compared to last year Rs1,150 despite Rs470 per bag subsidy provided by the government on phosphate and potash fertilisers to encourage the optimum use of fertilisers.

Due to the rains the country’s canal system was favourable for cotton growers and water was available for the crop for the whole season, while the growers irrigating their crops with tube-wells water remained in problem due frequent load-shedding and increasing prices of diesel.

The month of September is very important in cotton season due to the expected maximum pressure of pest attack on crop and expected shortage of pesticide, which could create very dangerous situation for the cotton crop. More than half of the month has passed and luckily the pest pressure has been observed very low.

The single product promotion campaign launched by the Minfal in import of pesticide is overall against the interests of cotton growers and the ministry should protect the interest of growers instead of any single company.