KARACHI: The diminishing trend in phutti (seed cotton) arrivals witnessed since the second half of the current cotton season ultimately has its toll on overall cotton production which came down to 3.86 per cent against initial growth of over 15pc recorded earlier in the season.

According to official figures released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners’ Association (PCGA), around 13.385 million bales have been produced up to April 1, 2014 as against 12.888m bales harvested in the corresponding period last season.

Phutti arrivals started diminishing during second half of the season because of various factors. In Punjab, heavy rains and floods badly damaged standing cotton crop and in lower Sindh pest and virus attack caused extensive loss to the crop.

Cotton Brokers Association chairman Naseem Usman said there is urgent need that the government should ensure that certified genetically modified cotton seed is supplied to growers to have higher yield.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that even after cotton crop suffered pest attack, Sindh has recorded double-digit growth in production at 10.47pc on producing around 3.760m bales as against 3.403m bales harvested in the same period last year.

This means that the province has produced 356,365 more cotton bales this year.The cotton production in Punjab recorded modest rise at 1.49pc on producing 9.625m bales as against 9.484m bales in the same period last year. Around 141,442 more cotton bales have been produced so far.

The dwindling phutti flow could be judged from the fact that during outgoing fortnight (March 15 to April 1), 26,750 less bales reached ginneries at 16,208 bales compared to 42,958 bales recorded in the same period last season.

The spinners have purchased higher quantity of cotton this season at 12.307m bales as against 11.851m bales lifted in the same period last season.

Similarly, exporters also purchased more cotton at 382,006 bales compared to 343,603 bales last season.

The ginners are holding around 696,563 bales which are closed to last year’s unsold stocks of 693,191 bales. In Punjab, 19 ginning units are still operating, while only two factories are functioning in Sindh.