Govt to Provide Subsidies to Cotton Farmers to Boost Output

In the wake of the decline in the local production of cotton, and as a result of the aggressive demands of the players in the cotton industry, the government has finally decided to provide cotton-specific subsidies to farmers in an attempt to boost the production of the industrial output.

The industrial output is expected to be six million bales this year, as stated by the Minister for Food Security and Research, Fakhar Imam.

He said that the federal and provincial governments will provide cotton growers relief and incentives in the form of cotton-specific subsidies, and explained that “subsidy on pesticides for whitefly and pink bollworm, and subsidies on cottonseed will be given to cotton growers, ” in addition to a subsidy for tractors, loan markups, and fertilizer that would also be provided to farmers in general.


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The minister said that Pakistan has three major varieties of cottonseed and that a total of about 23,000 tons of certified cotton seeds with a germination percentage of 75 percent (as compared to the 47 percent germination rate of last year) are available.

He added that the Punjab Seed Council has introduced 17 new varieties of cottonseed, including a double-gene variety, and Sindh has introduced three varieties of cottonseed.

The ministers and secretaries of agriculture of all the provinces attended a meeting that was called to discuss the revival, resuscitation, and refreshing of the cultivation of cotton.


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Sindh’s Ministry of Agriculture said that a minimum support price is also needed as an incentive for farmers.

The representative of Punjab’s Ministry of Agriculture pointed out the need for the availability of pesticides, an improved variety of seeds, and the area-wise identification of the available varieties.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Secretary for Agriculture said that ginning mills should be set up in the province to increase the cultivation of cotton following the model of the sugar mills used to increase the production of sugar cane.

Balochistan’s representative stated that the Government of Balochistan is signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with various companies to support the production of non-genetically modified cotton seeds.



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