SOWING of two Kharif crops — cotton and rice — are in full swing in Sindh. However, farmers fear that they may not only miss the cotton sowing target, the yield may be low as well. More farmers are turning towards rice cultivation.

According to Sindh Agriculture Department officials, 550,001 hectares out of the targeted area of 650,000 hectares for cotton were brought under cultivation till the end of June. The crop is still being sown in upper Sindh due to late availability of irrigation water. Thirty to 35 per cent of paddy nurseries have been prepared in lower Sindh. Last year, 84 per cent of the sowing target of cotton was achieved.

Farmers’ leader Syed Mehmood Nawaz Shah, however, disagrees with the official figure. “According to our assessment we will miss the target by at least 25 per cent”, he predicts, adding that while at one time Sindh looked set to hit five million cotton bales mark, it is now stuck at 3.4 million bales production. “But no one is bothered to at least study factors other than natural disasters which are primarily affecting cotton production”, he complains.

Director General Agriculture Extension Hidayatullah Chajjro concedes cotton production is facing a number of problems especially floods and rain-related. Factors like pest attacks, successive disasters and inadequate price for crop have demoralised farmers and they are rapidly switching over to paddy farming.

PCGA Mahesh Kumar believes that cotton production will be low in Sindh because cotton growers didn’t get a better price in last couple of years. The last year’s rate for the crop did not cross the Rs2,700 mark/ per bale.

“Cotton cultivation entails major expenditure and farmers remain worried until they do multiple pickings to meet cost of production and fetch profit”, he says adding that some ginners still have buffer stocks of last year because textile mill owners did not purchase cotton from them. Textile mill owners have their own axe to grind because they are hit by poor energy crisis, he says.

Cotton growers tend to extend the crop if they look set to gain multiple picking. They keep picking the crop until February to March next year. This way, they are able to save expenditure on land preparation for sowing of wheat in Rabi season and feel relatively comfortable for what they get from remainder of cotton crop.

Water shortage remains a perennial problem as well, further aggravating sowing crisis especially in command area of Kotri barrage. Farmers depend on pumping machines to lift water for sowing for Kharif crop, but due to inter-provincial water issues, irrigation water is not available in sufficient quantity. Availability of water had improved recently when four off-taking canals of barrage got their allocations and water was released downstream Kotri.

Given the present conditions farmers found natural inclination for rice cultivation that withstands even rains and floods and growers can make do even with lower yields in such conditions. Rice cultivation is easier when compared to cotton, which is getting difficult due to the increasing water table following recent rains.

According to a rice grower Gada Hussain Mahesar, cotton sowing area is being encroached upon by sugar mills’ establishment in upper Sindh while growers are going for sugarcane or paddy cultivation. He says that after paddy’s harvest, farmers can still cultivate sunflower which is a short duration crop. Cotton producing zone mainly in command of Kotri barrage is being substituted by paddy.

“The present scenario is not supporting cotton production. It is only rice crop that has salvaged farmers’ economic position. Authorities should start doing research on these issues and come up with sound advices for farmers to strengthen cotton sector,” says Shah. Farmers believe that the agricultural department needs to focus on the situation and come up with proposals on how to make cotton cultivation sustainable in lower Sindh.