HYDERABAD: Growers are fast losing interest in the cultivation of the cotton crop, which is increasingly becoming difficult for them to produce because of dismally low prices and persistent water shortage.

The expectation of monsoon rains early September would further affect prices. Over the past few years monsoon rains come in September and wreak havoc on the cotton crop mainly in lower Sindh.

“We are getting on an average Rs2,500 to Rs2,600 per 40 kilogramme of phutti [seed cotton] and we are seriously afraid of monsoon rains that have been predicted by the weather department as well,” said Mahmood Nawaz Shah, vice president of the Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB).

The Sindh agriculture department had agreed to fix cotton support price at Rs3,200 per 40 kg in a meeting with growers’ representatives but it has not yet been notified by the government. A summary to this effect was pending approval of the Sindh chief minister, said sources.

Against a target of 650,000 hectares, cotton was cultivated on 600,946 hectares which is eight per cent less than the crop’s sowing target in the 2014 season. Last year, the sowing remained 13 per cent short of the target, when the cotton was grown on 567,980 hectares.

“For my home district of Tando Mohammad Khan I can bet that cotton sowing has dropped by 50 per cent this year whereas the sowing has been affected this year by 20 to 30 per cent across Sindh. The agriculture department doesn’t compile correct figures,” said Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) leader Nabi Bux Sathio.

He attributed the drop in acreage mainly to the price factor saying if growers were assured that they would get Rs4,000 per maund they would go for massive cotton production regardless of water shortage. Even with lesser yields they would be able to meet the cost of production if such a price was offered, he added.

“Over the past few years cotton producers on an average were receiving Rs2,000 to Rs2,200. This year so far Rs2,600 per 40kg is being offered to us by ginners,” he said.

He said that drop in the cultivation was being noticed over the past four to five years but the government was not ready to take measures to arrest this trend.

He said that paddy cultivation had increased in the area at a rapid pace to substitute cotton.

Cotton is vulnerable to fluctuation in climatic conditions especially heavy rains which cause widespread damage as was witnessed in September 2011 when Sindh was all set to have a bumper cotton crop. In late September 2012, heavy rains caused widespread damage to the crop in upper Sindh.

On Aug 30, the Pakistan Meteorological Department forecast rains for lower Sindh in the next 24 hours. According to a Karachi-based PMD official, monsoon rains could be reported in Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad in the next 24 hours whereas by Sept 2 and 3 a developing rainfall system might visit the entire province.

The SAB official claimed that although no major or widespread pest attack was reported in the crop but monsoon rains could make matters worse for growers. The crop would be hit by moisture factor that would provide a pretext to the ginners to deduct weight of crop thus depriving growers of adequate price, he said.

“Rains could make crops susceptible to pest attack,” he said, adding that so far per acre yield remained satisfactory. But, he said, rains could cause blackening of the cotton boll.

Cotton crop is mainly grown in areas located on the left bank of the Indus river and is fed by left bank canals of the three barrages. In lower Sindh, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Sang­har, Matiari, Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar and Umer­kot districts are known for cultivation of cotton. Sanghar district is supposed to be the highest cotton producer in the country.

Mr Shah argued that the government should seriously ponder over this issue and try to understand why growers were reluctant to grow cotton which had remained their major cash crop.

He said that in last four to five years cotton production and acreage had been consistently recording a decline on account of declining prices and climatic conditions. Sindh was hit by back to back disasters over the past few years, he added.

The statistics of agriculture department show that Sindh had produced 4.2 million bales against a target of 3.2 million bales in 2009-10 when it was sown on 634,714 hectares against a target of 650,000 hectares.

Since then Sindh has not been able to achieve sowing target although per acre yield remained impressive. In 2012-13, 3.4 million bales were produced and 3.5 million were produced in 2013-14 against a target of four million bales.

This year cotton production target remained unchanged.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2014