LAHORE: Notwithstanding the prospects of getting a better rate this year, farmers in Punjab did not show as much enthusiasm as was expected in planting cotton as the province has fallen short of its sowing target by 0.34 million acres.

Data shared by the Punjab Crop Reporting Service reveals that against the target of 4.0 million acres set by the Federal Committee on Agriculture in its April 8 meeting only 3.58m acres could be brought under cotton cultivation by June 1, over 10 per cent lower than the target.

However, cotton sowing improved this season by 12pc as compared with the last year when only 3.16m acres of land had been brought under the crop.

The cotton sowing window closes in the first week of June. According to the break-up of the CRS data, 97.7pc of the expected area was achieved in North Punjab and 98.3pc in South Punjab.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2022