KARACHI, May 3: A record cotton harvest of 14.813 million bales has been achieved this season (2011-12), showing a growth of over 26 per cent over previous year when production stood at 11.698 million bales.

Official figures of phutti (seed cotton) arrival up to end season on April 30, 2012 reveal that the flow during last fortnight (April 15 to 30) was also much higher at 143,441 bales as against 90,589 bales recorded in the same period last year.

Though last year’s devastating floods and heavy rains badly damaged standing cotton crops in Sindh, a remarkable high production in the Punjab did not only help cover up the shortfall but also achieve a historic record production.

A fabulous production in cotton achieved by the Punjab this season could well be judged from the fact that around 4.228 million more bales have been harvested by the province.

The province produced 12.132 million bales or 53.49 per cent more cotton this season over last year when production stood at 7.904 million bales only.

Consequently, mammoth growth in cotton production in the Punjab did not only help cover up heavy shortfall in Sindh caused by heavy rains and floods but also enabled the country to register a historic record in production.

As a result of this, the country produced 3.115 million more bales or 26.63 per cent higher over the previous year when total production stood at 11.698 million bales.

However, cotton production in Sindh suffered badly owing to heavy rains and floods of last year and produced 1.112 million bales or 29.32 per cent less over the last year. In total 2.691 million bales were produced this season against 3.793 million bales last season.

Raw cotton exports were also higher this year at 1.101 million bales as against 0.540 million bales last year.

Similarly, spinning mills also purchased higher volume of cotton at 13.435 million bales compared to 10.937 million bales last year.

The unsold stocks lying with ginners are only 277,562 bales as against 219,955 bales held by them last year.