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MULTAN, March 1: The Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association has criticized the role of both the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and millers for keeping cotton prices artificially depress in the domestic market.
A general body meeting of the association was held here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Sheikh Muhammad Saeed. Ginners from all the cotton growing areas attended the meeting.
They said ginners procured phutti from growers at the rates ranging from Rs780 to Rs1,040 per 40kg after the government assurance that the TCP would lift lint cotton from ginneries at the minimum rate of Rs1,855 per maund. But the lethargic attitude of the corporation in carrying out its mandate resulted in the failure of the government-envisaged system to keep cotton prices stabilized for the benefit of stakeholders.
Similarly, All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association members exploited the situation emerged after the ‘dubious’ slow buying policy of the TCP and reduced the ginneries to mere role of millers’ warehouses.
The meeting warned that the cotton crisis would render the ginners defaulter and consequently the financial institutions would also suffer viz-a-viz their lending capacity.
The meeting decided to send a delegate to Islamabad to meet the federal commerce minister to discuss the cotton crisis. It was further decided that the ginners would have no choice except to close down their units if the talks failed.
MANGO EXPORT: Mango export cannot be increased unless the government gives proper facilities and incentives to growers and exporters.
This was stated at a meeting of the Cold Chain Committee of the provincial agriculture department here on Thursday. Mango Growers’ Association chief Zahid Gardezi presided over the meeting.
It was observed that the mango export could be increased by improving the post-harvest handling of the fruit from farm to the market. The meeting urged the government to give incentives for the import of cold chain machinery.
The food technologist of the Ayub Agriculture Research Institution, Ijaz Gill, said the production of premium quality mangoes of international standard size and weight be encouraged to boost the mango export. Besides, the fruit should not have been sprayed with prohibited chemicals.
The meeting also discussed various aspects of packing of the fruit meant for export.
Mr Gardezi said the growers and exporters should be told about WTO laws. He warned that lack of understanding of WTO rules might render Pakistani growers and exporters out of the international market.
FARM PRODUCE: The Agriculturists and Agri-Labour Association of Pakistan chairman has urged the government to fix prices of farm produce besides extending subsidies in case of crisis.
In a press release here on Thursday, association chief Mehmood Ali alleged that industrialists and the bureaucracy had been fleecing the masses especially the farming community and the labour class. He said cotton growers had always been robbed of their investment and sheer hard work by the millers.
He proposed that the government should evaluate phutti price for a season by calculating average price of lint cotton during the previous season after deducting ginning and handling cost of the raw cotton. If this price also deemed less, the government should provide subsidies to farmers to cover their cost of production, he said.
