ISLAMABAD: World Cotton Day to be observed on October 7 (Thursday) aiming to create an opportunity to recognize the global importance of cotton.
The day is also aiming at to highlight its role in creating jobs and maintaining economic stability, besides, fostering sustainable trade policies and to enable developing countries to benefit from every step of the cotton value chain.
In his message, Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Wednesday said Pakistan was one of the top cotton-producing and consuming countries.
They were among a few countries where a complete cotton value chain has been developed and in its backward linkages, cotton supports many input supply chains and it is an important source of livelihood for 2.4 million farmers predominantly womenfolk, he remarked.
In the forward linkages, he said cotton supports the textile industry and it was the largest source of foreign exchange earnings for the economy.
Cotton in Pakistan was produced with much care and it was picked by hand mostly by women to conserve properties of its fiber, he added.
Fakhar Imam said cotton was a multifaceted plant which provided food and fiber for humans, feed for animals, and firewood for rural kitchens, so no part of cotton plant goes un-utilized.