ISLAMABAD: The area under cotton cultivation has shrunk by around 16 per cent as compared to last year, Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research was informed on Thursday.

Briefing the committee, Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah said cotton crop in Punjab has been sown over 1.77 million hectares (around 4.4m acres), which was 77pc of the sowing target set for the current season. In contrast, Sindh has achieved 96pc of the sowing target.

“But the crop is in good position this time around as no major pest attack has been reported from the field formations in Sindh and Punjab. Pesticides availability is also better,” he said.

Phutti (seed cotton) prices remained between Rs3,300 and Rs3,400 per maund (around 37 kilograms) in Sindh and between Rs3,200 and Rs3,400 in Punjab. Lint prices were on a par with international prices at Rs6,600 to Rs6,700 per maund.

The committee, chaired by Senator Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah, was informed that crop production target was set at 14.1m bales while the area under cultivation was projected at over 3m hectares to fulfil both domes­tic and foreign demand.

As for disbursement of credit to farmers, senior officials of the State Bank of Pakistan and Zarai Tarqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) informed the committee that the Rs600m credit target was achieved for the financial year ended on June 30, 2016.

The chairman of the Senate committee directed ZTBL officials to take senators of their respective zones on board to minimise the role of middlemen in agriculture credit disbursement to facilitate growers at grass-roots level.

He said the committee had also heard the complaints of victimisation of 41 employees of Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation by its managing director.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2016