THE picking of phutti has begun in Sindh, with a limited number of ginning factories starting their operations. Business is generally slack in Ramazan and phutti-buying would pick up pace after Eidul Fitr.

The rates of early picked cotton, as is the case in lower Sindh, currently ranges between Rs3,200 and Rs3,300 per 40kg.

The Sindh agriculture department had agreed with farmers’ bodies to fix the indicative price of phutti at Rs3,200, but the proposal has yet to be approved by the Sindh chief minister. Ginners, however, believe that the support price may not be notified by the Sindh government because the federal government hasn’t yet decided to procure cotton, with the market appearing instable. The Sindh government, being the second buyer, procures phutti on its own and looks towards the federally run Trading Corporation of Pakistan.

Cotton cultivation was hit by late canal water supplies in the Kotri barrage command area, and then high velocity winds led to flower-dropping. Still, farmers hope that subsequent flowering may compensate them for the losses

According to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chairman Mahesh Kumar, there is a great demand of oilcake extracted from cotton seed. “Oilcake is being sold now for Rs1,600 per 37.3234kg (maund), against Rs800 last year. Cotton seed produces 85pc of the oilcake which is used as animal feed,” he said.

The picking of crop starts first in lower Sindh, where it is sown at least 2-3 weeks ahead of upper Sindh due to climatic conditions. Cotton cultivation was hit by late canal water supplies in the Kotri barrage command area, and then high velocity winds led to flower droppings. Still, farmers hope that subsequent flowering may compensate them for the losses.

Kumar also expects better per phutti yields this season, as climatic conditions have by and large remained favourable to the crop, and no pest has so far affected phuti fields. But water shortage in the tail-end of canals had some adverse effects on the crop, and the shortage still persists. The PCGA chief believes that Sindh will have 4.5m bales, provided the weather conditions support the crop for the rest of the season.

Cotton was sown on 650,000 hectares in the province as per final estimates of the agriculture department, 8pc short of the sowing target of 650,000 hectares. Last year, it was sown on 567,980 hectares.

The main issue phutti producers are facing is that of deduction. The phutti crop is subjected to deduction due to moisture content and mixture of foreign goods.

In 2005-06, the government decided that no deduction shall be made as phutti processing losses by the PCGA. He said there is no such provision in the Cotton Control Act, and growers transport the crop in open trolleys after crop transportation in jute bags was banned.

“When we sell the crop, ginners raise objections to deprive us of a fair rate,” says Nabi Bux Sathio, general secretary of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture. He contends that phutti producers are blamed by ginners for adding trash to crop during transportation, but they overlook the same when they purchase the phutti from dealers.

Secondly, he said, the objection over moisture in the crop is not valid because the crop is picked in sunlight in the peak summer season, which reduces moisture, if any. It is in the case of crops picked and supplied after August that chances of them carrying moisture might be present, he added.

Mahesh said textile millowners don’t allow more than 9pc of moisture in phutti (which is usually around 12pc), and when farmers sell it to ginners, it is mixed with boll’s wooden skin, which increases the crop’s weight, making the deductions become necessary.

Around 250 ginning factories in Sindh would shortly start functioning fully. Picking would be in full swing too. And before this, farmers want the government to notify the prices of phutti as agreed by the farmers’ bodies and the agriculture department.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, July 28th, 2014