LAHORE: The country’s cotton sector has expressed serious concern over the sharp shortfall in cotton production against the targets set by the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) for the 2025-26 season.

The FCA had fixed cotton cultivation targets for Punjab at 3.46 million acres with a production goal of 5.553m bales (170 kg each), for Sindh it was 1.556m acres with a production target of 4.040m bales. However, the data released by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) up to Dec 15 shows that actual production stood at only 2.453m bales in Punjab and 2.848m bales in Sindh, triggering widespread concern across the entire cotton value chain.

Despite Sindh’s production target being 37 per cent lower than Punjab’s, cotton output in Sindh remained surprisingly 61pc higher than Punjab’s by mid-December.

A total of 5.3m bales had arrived at ginning factories across the country by Dec 15, reflecting only a one per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

PCGA data shows Punjab trailing Sindh, despite higher acreage

The PCGA report shows that during the said period, 2.453m bales reached ginning factories in Punjab, registering a five percent decline compared to last year, while Sindh recorded 2.848m bales, showing a three percent increase. During this time, textile mills purchased 4.491m bales from ginning factories, while exporters bought 175,000 bales.

Cotton Ginners Forum Chairman Ihsan-ul-Haq has questioned the FCA’s projected per-acre yield figures. According to FCA targets, per-acre cotton productivity this year was estimated at 9.80 bales in Punjab and 15.84 bales in Sindh. “It is incomprehensible how Sindh’s per-acre cotton yield can be 61 percent higher than Punjab’s,” he remarked.

He criticised the FCA for issuing unrealistic national cotton production estimates for several consecutive years. “These impractical targets are never achieved, yet the FCA continues to release inflated figures every year, creating serious difficulties for cotton stakeholders in formulating effective strategies,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Cotton Association is failing to issue cotton spot rates since the Evacuee Property Trust Board with the help of the Federal Investigation Agency sealed its building last Friday.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2025