LAYYAH, Oct 26: The cotton market has crashed in south Punjab owing to electricity crisis because ginning factories has stopped buying raw cotton (phutty) the prices of which have fallen from Rs1,660 to Rs1,200 per 40kg.

Reports say that commission agents are not buying phutty from growers because ginning factories have failed to bale raw cotton due to long hours of power outages. They already have stockpiles of raw cotton on their factories premises and are therefore unwilling to purchase more raw cotton.

Peasants in Multan, Vehari, Dera Ghazi Khan and Muzaffargarh have protested against the closure of ginning factories for they are not getting proper prices of their produce.

In Muzaffargarh, enraged farmers and commission agents tried to set on fire ginning factories on Jamal Shah Road while administration of Bajwa and Ghafoor cotton factories closed the gates to protect their property from the charged mob.

Local cotton ginner Chaudhry Ishfaque said that the textile industry was not working in its full capacity due to severe power shortage so they were not purchasing cotton from ginners and subsequently ginners were not buying phutty from growers and commission agents.

He said that the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) had issued warning to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan, but it failed to start purchasing cotton from the market that caused severe crisis in the cotton market.

The PCGA, he said, had announced that they would not purchase phutty until the government would announce the cotton support price and the TCP start purchasing cotton from the market.

He said the executive committee meeting of the PCGA was scheduled on Oct 30 in Multan to formulate a strategy to save ginners from financial losses as 1.5 million cotton bales were lying in ginning factories.

Farmers Association of Pakistan’s district president Chaudhry Samiullah said that farmers were facing a critical situation as PCGA and APTMA were hand in gloves to create an artificial crisis to purchase cotton from growers at lowest prices.

He said that farmers would not tolerate the on-going situation and would take action if the purchase of cotton was not started within two days.