ISLAMABAD: The first ‘World Cotton Day’ will be observed on Oct 7 (today) to emphasise the cotton’s enormous potential and need for further research on and development of cotton.

Cotton is considered as the lifeline of Pakistan’s economy. However, the cotton production in the country is decreasing, as during 2018-19 it was 9.8 million bales which was below 17.5 per cent over the last year’s output of around 12m bales.

An official document attributed the low production to the less economic incentives to cotton growers.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is founding partner of World Cotton Day, alongside the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Trade Centre and the World Trade Organisation. Through its technical cooperation work, UNCTAD has assisted cotton-producing countries to improve their yields, meet international standards and attract investments in value-added industries.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2019