LAHORE: The cotton sector is concerned at the release of what it says “ridiculous” cotton production figures by the National Accounts Committee (NAC) for the last two years.

The concern stems from previous inaccuracies from the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) regarding cotton cultivation and targets over the last decade.

For the cotton year 2023-24, the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) reported a total domestic production of 8.4 million bales, while the NAC presented an `inflated figure’ of 10.22m bales. The disparity continues for the cotton year 2024-25, with PCGA projecting 5.5m bales and the NAC 7.08m bales.

Ihsanul Haq, Chairman of the Cotton Ginners Forum, emphasised that these erroneous FCA and NAC statistics create substantial difficulties for stakeholders in formulating their strategies for cultivation, import, and price determination. “Inaccurate data can lead to reduction in cotton made-up exports due to insufficient raw cotton imports,” he cautions.

He stressed the importance of government bodies constantly releasing accurate figures for cultivation and production to avoid such complications for stakeholders in their annual planning.

Meanwhile, both the Aptma and the PCGA have written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and launched an advertising campaign. Their message is clear: if the Export Facilitation Scheme is not abolished or its domestic application is not implemented, and if the 18 percent sales tax on cotton seed, cotton seed oil, and oil cake (khal banola) is not removed, the cotton ginning and textile sectors will find it nearly impossible to remain operational.

Approximately 800 ginning factories and over 120 textile mills have already ceased operations due to this scheme.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2025