ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: Cotton crop suffered about 5 per cent losses due to heavy monsoon rainfalls in Sindh and Balochistan in July.

According to official sources, above normal rains in the country have affected standing crops inflicting losses to the agriculture sector particularly of livestock and cotton crop.

Current monsoon currents are mainly concentrating over southern parts of the county including Sindh and Balochistan which had experienced drought like conditions during past few years.

Cotton crop was affected in its mainly growing areas of district Mirpur Khas in Sindh and Naseerabad and Jaffarabad in Balochistan which received heavy rainfall.

The federal government has directed all provincial governments to submit reports with regard to rain losses in their respective areas.

The overall affect of rainfall on cotton crop may be low because this year its sowing exceeded by 15 per cent as compared to the previous year and rain may cause just 5 per cent loss to cotton production.

The sowing of cotton crop has been completed over an area of 3.1 million hectares more than 100 per cent target of the set target of 2.860 million hectares for the year 2003-04.

Federal Agriculture Committee (FAC) had set target of 2.86 million hectare for sowing of cotton in 2003-04. The sowing in Sindh Province has been higher by 5.1 per cent than the corresponding period of the last year achieving 104.5 per cent increase in the set target of 0.541 million hectares.

In NWFP the cotton was sown over an area of 6,800 acres showing an increase of 183 per cent over the last year.—APP