ISLAMABAD: Three PPP senators have submitted an adjournment motion with the Senate secretariat seeking suspension of normal business of the House when it meets after Eid to discuss inordinate delay in the announcement of an adequate minimum support price (MSP) of cotton crop of this Kharif that they fear would lead to substantial decline in the cotton production.

“National economy, textile industry, employment situation and national exports depend on growing sufficiently large quantities of cotton in the country. Some years back, Pakistan was growing 14 million plus bales of cotton which have now come down to a mere six million bales” Senators Taj Haider, Salim Mandviwala and Jam Mehtab Dahir said in the notice.

They pointed out that textile industry had to import millions of bales of cotton at exorbitant rates just to keep their mills running,

“Rapid fall in the value of rupee has further made this import more expensive,” they noted.

They said the matter was of urgent public importance since time for sowing cotton crop was fast running out and in the absence of an adequate MSP for cotton, the farmers have been shifting to sowing alternate crops which ensure better returns.

Talking to Dawn, Senator Haider said Pakistan was the 5th largest producer of cotton and 3rd largest consumer/producer of cotton yarn in the world.

About 1.3 million out of five million farmers cultivate cotton on an area of 6.0 million acres, covering 15pc of cultivated area in the country.

Cotton crop has 0.8pc share in GDP and contributes 5.2pc in agriculture value addition. Cotton has 51pc share in total foreign exchange earnings of the country.

Recalling that a remarkable growth in cotton production had facilitated the emergence of a large and vibrant textile industry with over 1,000 ginning factories, 400 textile mills, seven million spindles, 27,000 looms in the mill sector, over 25,000 looms in the non-mill sector, 700 knitwear units, 4,000 garment units, nearly 1,000 ginners and 5,000 oil expellers making cotton industry the most important sector of the economy of Pakistan, he said a reversal of the trend would be a recipe for economic disaster.

He said primarily cotton was grown for its hypoallergenic fabric. Mr Haider said besides fiber cotton seed had several other uses as well. The oil from cottonseed can be used for cooking or as part of many industrial products, including soap, margarine, cosmetics, emulsifiers, rubbers, plastics and pharmaceuticals.

Cottonseed oil is largely composed of unsaturated fats about 70pc, and high levels of antioxidants such as Vitamin E that contribute to its long shelf life. Cotton has about 70pc share in locally produced edible oil in Pakistan. Cotton seed cake is one of the major sources of cattle feed to enhance milk production in the country.

Even the stalk of the cotton plant is used as a fuel in rural areas to develop ethanol in diesel or petrol blends and to improve soil organic matter. Cotton is mainly cultivated in two provinces.

Published in Dawn,May 3rd, 2022