THE surge in Sindh’s cotton output this year has more than compensated the losses seen in Punjab because of an increase in the area under cultivation and higher yields per acre obtained in some places.
Up to October 15, ginneries reported arrival of 2.231 million bales of cotton from 11 cotton producing districts of the province (plus Balochistan whose meagre output is normally clubbed together with that of Sindh), against 1.365 million bales of last year.
The big increase in production is, first of all, attributable to low output last year when cotton crop on a large area had been damaged in Sindh due to floods.
But top officials of provincial agricultural department say that an increase in the area under cultivation this year and better per acre yields, here and there, have also helped in obtaining higher output. Information gathered from growers and ginners suggest that total cotton production in Sindh may touch 6.2 million bales, or 40 per cent of the entire country’s estimated output of 15.5 million bales. “I guess Sindh’s cotton output (including a nominal output in Balochistan as well) won’t be anything less than six million bales. At best it can reach up to 6.2 million bales,” said an official of Sindh agricultural department.
Cotton harvest in Sindh had remained low in the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 due to flood-related damages. But this year the crop output is high mainly because growers had brought a larger area under cultivation and used more of BT and American cotton seeds. And some progressive farmers have reported higher yields, up to 40-maund per acre against an average of 30 maund per acre, according to officials.
Out of the 2.2 million bales of cotton produced in Sindh (up to October 15) a little more than one million bales have come from Sanghar alone where the area under cultivation during this year’s crop exceeded one million hectares against less than 15,000 hectares in the last year.
Similarly, arrival of 300,000 plus bales has been reported from Mirpur Khas against less than 100,000 bales in the same period of the last year. But this is also attributable to increase in the area under cultivation to about 30,000 hectares this year from less than 10,000 last year.
A random scanning of the district-wise data of output and the area under cultivation leaves the impression that the push-up in cotton production is because of the fact that more farmers opted to grow cotton. It is very hard to find statistical evidence of any relationship between higher output of this year and the per acre yield.
But officials of Sindh Agriculture Department who claim to have visited cotton fields in several districts insist that at various places they had seen for themselves that cotton fields were producing more this year than in the last year. They also say some growers had tried new domestic cotton varieties named Sindh-1 and Mala Mal, released in 2010, which offered them very good yields.
But a progressive farmer in Mirpur Khas Fazal Illahi Memon told Dawn over telephone that officials of the agriculture department were not used to taking physical tours of farms and fields.
He even complained that the officials did not ensure supply of quality cotton seeds or extend the farmers a helping hand in insecticide/pesticide supplies. “Had they done this we’d surely have had far better yields,” he said lamenting that he got just 25-30 maund per acre.
Another progressive cotton grower Iqbal Dahri from Naushero Feroze said he had also obtained about 27 maund per acre but he made it clear that this much yield was obtained by using seeds of old domestic varieties of cotton.
Stakeholders in the cotton sector are currently engaged in a debate whether the yield is better this year or the crop size is explained by of larger areas under cultivation.
Whereas growers’ speak more of the area under cultivation and almost reject the notion of any increase in the per acre yield, officials of agriculture department and cotton ginners and brokers also cite increase in per acre yield as one of the reasons behind higher output.
“Traditionally, growers always offer crop estimates on lower side to ensure off-take at higher prices. But as we continue to publish actual records of fortnightly arrivals (of cotton) into ginneries, a realistic crop size begins to emerge andhas its affects on prices,” said an official of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association.
“Be it because of larger area under cultivation or because of a combination of factors, the fact is cotton output in Sindh this year is going to exceed six million bales. When growers start denying any increase in per-acre yield, they make a second-round effort to show that not much of seed-cotton is going to come from fields into nearby ginneries.
And it becomes difficult for people to have a fair idea of per-hectare yield before the estimates of both the area under cultivation and total cotton output of various districts are finalised.”
Latest data for average per-hectare yield of cotton produced in Sindh could not be obtained from official sources. But according to the Economic Survey, average yield in entire Pakistan grew 12.6 per cent to 815kg per hectare in 2011-12, from 724kg per hectare in 2010-11.
A senior official of agriculture department said that because of the milder climate in the province per hectare yield of not only cotton but other crops had historically remained higher in Sindh vis-à-vis the national average.
“During the current season cotton output at some places are heading towards 1000kg per hectare,” he said but gave no furtherdetails. Cotton growers say higher cotton yields are generally being obtained at places where hybrid seeds have been used.
They also say that one of the reasons for higher yields of cotton in Sindh is that unlike in Punjab where taller cotton plants could not resist strong winds during the floods, plantations in Sindh were smaller and as such cotton bolls were not destroyed. “Then, cotton grown in Sindh is genetically more resistant to the infamous Curl Leaf Virus and Boll worms than cotton grown in Punjab,” explained a former head of field officers of Sindh Agriculture Department.