COTTON sowing, about to end in Sindh, has been affected by seed germination, water rotation programme and a drop in cultivation area.

According to Sindh Agriculture Department’s initial assessment in the third week of May, the area under cotton has reduced by seven per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The current Kharif season has been hit by water shortage.

So far the government has not fixed any sowing target. Cotton was grown on 3,05,740 hectares — 47 per cent of the targeted sowing area of 6,50,000 hectares — last year. So far this year, one estimate is that it has been cultivated on around 2,66,557 hectares.

In many areas, cotton producers are re-sowing the crop incurring extra expenses for land preparation and on seed. Around three to five kg of seed is needed per acre for cotton sowing. The farmers have also purchased seed from Punjab-based seed companies as they fear that seed of Sindh companies was hit by moisture due to the last year’s rains. Most companies are selling with a germination tag of 60 per cent. The purchased seed is approved by the Federal Seed Certification Company according to a private seed company’s representative. Farmers having lands in the command area of Kotri barrage mostly use BT cotton for better per acre yield.

The water rotation programme by irrigation authorities is adversely impacting cotton sowing. It needs successive cycles of water after sowing to avoid germination problem. In Sanghar — the largest cotton growing area in Sindh — sowing is going on in full swing. “We are re-sowing cotton crop due to germination problem…..the germination is not more than 60 per cent due to water shortage and perhaps the quality of seed,” claims Zahid Bhurgari, a grower from Mirpurkhas.

According to a seasoned cotton trader Riaz Rashdi, cotton crop losses in Sindh were estimated at 26 per cent last year. Had there been no losses to crop in Sindh the national production would have stood at around 16 million bales. He points out that New York’s market showed some sign of stability otherwise it was going down seven cent in two sessions, causing signs of panic in the cotton market.

Sindh Abadgar Board’s general secretary Mehmood Nawaz Shah believes that if the country wants to enhance production to 17-18 million bales, the government would have to plan for handling such a big crop size. A good crop harvest always affects the market price, he says.