MULTAN, Nov 8: The farming community complained on Saturday that they had to sell their cotton produce cheaper “as they have not been reached by the government agency willing to lift their cotton at an appropriate price.”

“Despite government directives to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to intervene and resume lifting of cotton as a second player in the local market, ensuring adequate prices of the produce to farmers and despite the fact that the TCP established eight cotton procurement centres in the Punjab, the farming community was forced to sell their crop on low rates,” said a representative of a farmers body.

The government has directed the TCP to purchase one million bales of lint and had released one billion rupees to the TCP while the TCP established eight cotton procurement centers in Punjab and seven centers were established only in southern Punjab. The cities where these centers have been established are Multan, Vihari, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Chishtian, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan and Faisalabad.

Kisan Board’s central general secretary Jam Hazoor Bakhsh said that the delay in procurement process by the TCP was creating problems for the farming community.

He said that the purpose of government decision would not be fulfilled if TCP fails to start procurement immediately because after 20 days crop would not remain in the hands of farmers.

He said that the presence of TCP in the market would create a competition and help stabilise cotton prices, while farmers would be able to get adequate prices of their crop. He said that the government should increase the amount for this purpose from Rs1 billion to Rs10 billion.

He said that a meeting of district presidents of Kistan Board from Multan, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Rahim Yar Khan, Lodhran, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Vihari, Pakpattan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Layyah and Rajanpur would be held in Multan on Nov 11 to formulate a policy to stress the government for immediate purchase of lint from the TCP.

Progressive farmer and former speaker Syed Fakhar Imam said that to give adequate price of their produce to the farming community, the government should take appropriate steps.

He said that the minimum price of per mound of cotton should be at least Rs2000 while the government should evolve a mechanism by purchasing cotton from farmers directly as it was being done in India and China.

He said that cotton sowing area was reducing rapidly and last year he himself reduced 50 per cent cotton cultivated area.

He said that cotton prices could only be improved, if TCP starts purchase of cotton from farming community, while delay in the procurement process would only help middleman and ginner.

All-Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) chairman Tariq Mehmood said that if government was sincere in giving any relief to the farming community, it should purchase cotton directly from farmers while purchase of lint from ginners would benefit only ginners and middleman.

He said that the profit of cotton growers in other cotton producing countries had increased by 80 per cent within two years, but Pakistan’s cotton growers were in a pathetic condition.

Former chairman of Pakistan Ginners Association said that the presence of TCP in local market was in favour of the farming community.

He said that if ginners would be able to get proper price of lint, they would deliver a reasonable price of cotton to farmers.

He said that delay in procurement process by the TCP would not only create problems for ginners, but also for the farming community.

A Multan-based cotton consultant Mudabir Shah said that the involvement of the TCP would beneficiate only a few opportunists who would sell their substandard lint to the TCP while the farming community would remain empty-handed.

He said that the presence of TCP would not favour farming community because it would disturb the price mechanism by purchasing the lint on low price as compared to international parity.

He said that if the government wants to favour the farming community, it should announce procurement price of lint without any delay.