KARACHI: A rising trend in cotton prices was witness once again on Monday though trading activity receded due to shortage of quality crop.

Reports of whitefly attacks are coming in from Punjab cotton fields where the cotton crop has entered into a crucial stage. There were also reports of slower arrival of phutti (seed cotton).

Meanwhile the Punjab Agriculture Department has urged farmers to immediately take measures to control the pest attack. A spokesman for the department said that cotton growers must conduct pest scouting of their crops twice a week and continue the process till the end of this month. The agriculture department further said that farmers should ensure the crop does not face any water shortage at this stage and irrigation must be carried out after scouting. The department expects the severity of pest attack to decrease after October.

Slow arrival of phutti has caused shortage of quality cotton which pushed prices higher on ready counter by up to Rs300 per maund.

The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) spot rates were also raised by Rs150 to Rs8,000 per maund.

The following deals were reported to have changed hands on ready counter: 1,200 bales, Shahdadpur, at Rs7,900; 1,400 bales, Sanghar, at Rs7,600 -8,000; 1,000 bales, Nawabshah, at Rs8,050; 400 bales, Mirpur Mathelo, at Rs8,200; 2,000 bales, Saleh Pat, at Rs8,200 -8,300; 1,600 bales, Rohri, at Rs8,200 -8,225; 4,000 bales, Khairpur, at Rs8,100 -8,250; 600 bales, Khanewal, at Rs8,200 -8,225; 800 bales, Rajanpur, at Rs8,200; 600 bales, Layyah, at Rs8,100; 200 bales, Mianwali, at Rs8,150; 200 bales, Taunsa Sharif, at Rs8,150; and 600 bales, Haroonabad, at Rs8,150 -8,200.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2018