HYDERABAD: An agriculture expert has said the cotton crop is the backbone of the Pakistan’s industrial sector, but showing constant decline because its growers are switching over to other crops.

Other experts said that effective steps should be taken for the promotion of cotton cultivation in the country, especially Sindh, and added that Pakistan’s textile industry depended on the cotton production.

They were speaking at a seminar on the cotton crop promotion at a local hotel here on Thursday. The event was organised by the Sindh agriculture department in collaboration with the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature.

Sindh Agriculture Director General (DG) Munir Ahmed Jumani said the cotton crop was the backbone of the Pakistan’s industrial sector, but the crop was showing constant decline because growers were switching over to other crops.

He said the reason was that cotton growers were not getting adequate price that was forcing them to opt for alternate crops. Though the recent floods had damaged the crop, its production remained impressive, he said.

The DG said that climatic conditions suited cotton cultivation in Sindh and it needed much attention of people. Modern farming methods needed to be introduced in the agriculture sector, he said.

He said the agriculture research department should offer technical advice to growers regarding seeds in view of climate change phenomenon so that per acre yield could improve.

He said that Sindh had potential of growth in agriculture and its production could improve if all institutions worked jointly.

Dr Altaf Sheikh said the WWF was working at 18 different locations in Sindh and his organisation had prepared the Indus Ecosystem Plan for the next 50 years.

He maintained that the WWF was striving for the conservation of Indus dolphins besides mangroves growth and water sector.

A panel discussion was also held, moderated by Prof Ismail Kumbhar and attended by Dr Nadia Mangrio, Dr Ghulam Hyder Shar, Dr Saqib Sohail and Dr Mansoor Bughio. They discussed various steps for improving the cotton production.

Dr Bughio, deputy director of the information communication technology, said in his presentation that growers were being given guidance through videos and text messages in order to create awareness among them.

He said that growers were educated through live programme ‘Sar Sabz Sindh’ on the agriculture sector. Four different applications had been designed which offered valuable information on agriculture, he said.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2024