MULTAN, Nov 6: The Standing Committee on Cotton Crop Assessment (SCCCA) has put the estimate of cotton production in the country this year at 12.1m bales.

The first meeting of the committee during the ongoing season was held here on Saturday with Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Sikander Hayat Bosan in the chair.

The committee dilated upon the current pattern of cotton arrival and market situation in order to assess the likely crop size during the year 2004-05. The committee also considered the latest cotton arrival figures released by Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.

According to the PCGA figures, the cotton arrivals at the ginneries this year had shown 51 per cent increase by November 1, 2004, as against the cotton arrived at the ginneries during the same period last year. It was also reported that 959 ginning factories were operative at present in the cotton growing areas of the country while last year only 903 ginneries were in operation in the corresponding period last year.

The committee observed that the unprecedented increase in the cotton arrival might also be the cause of early sowing and consequent early picking of cotton this year as compared to the sowing and picking pattern last year.

However, the committee hoped that a sizeable cotton crop had yet to reach the ginneries owing to seven per cent increase in the area under cotton cultivation, favourable weather conditions and low pressure of insects/pests as compared to the last year.

Therefore, keeping in view all the factors the committee estimated the possible crop size at 12.1m bales on ex-farm basis. Later talking to newsmen, the federal agriculture minister said that the government had been keeping a watchful eye in order to ensure the farming community a fair price against their produce.

He said it had been decided in the weekly meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on cotton that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan would procure 3,000 bales from each of operational ginning factories instead of the earlier decision of the procurement of 2,000 bales per ginnery.

He said the TCP had been directed to invite cotton export tenders in order to avoid glut of the commodity. The minister said that the TCP had been allowed to procure cotton on discount and premium basis, depending on the grade.