ISLAMABAD: The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) on Friday estimated the output for 2016-17 will remain 11.039 million bales.

The second meeting of the CCAC took place with Ministry of Textile Industry Secretary Hassan Iqbal in the chair to assess the crop volume and area in 2016-17.

The Plant Protection Department, Trading Cooperation of Pakistan, Pest Warning Department, Central Cotton Committee, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) and cotton growers from Punjab attended the meeting.

Cotton Commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah gave an overview of the cotton crop production and its challenges. Participants were apprised of the effects of climate change on the cotton crop besides pests like pink bollworm and whitefly.

They were informed that the crop output in Punjab is estimated at 7.3m bales, with each bale weighing 170 kilograms.

The crop size of Sindh is estimated at 3.7m bales while those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are expected to be 0.001m bales and 0.038m bales, respectively.

The participants were informed that cotton sowing has registered a decrease of 21 per cent in Punjab while it has risen by 2pc in Sindh.

The cotton crop recorded an overall decrease of 15pc over the last year. The representative of growers from Punjab agreed to the assessment whereas the PCGA chairman was of the opinion that the crop size in Punjab was about 7.5m to 8m bales.

Cotton growers emphasised the need for an extensive awareness campaign about pest management and rain damage.

It may be recalled that the cotton crop size was assessed on the basis of data provided by provincial governments. The third assessment will be held after three to four weeks.

Published in Dawn October 8th, 2016