MULTAN:Chairman, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) Chaudhry Waheed Arshad has called for intervention by Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to procure one million bales of cotton saying that it would spread positivity across the entire cotton belt and encourage farmers do more to reach a bigger cotton production figure next year.
Talking to reporter on Monday by phone, the PCGA chairman said that cotton arrival figures of over 7.7 million bales released Sunday last in PCGA’s fortnightly report showed over 81 percent increase in arrivals indicating bigger production expected in 2023 compared to last year.
He, however, added that Pakistan had once surpassed 14 million bales mark but its potential goes far beyond this level. And this potential, he said can be realized provided farmers’ interests are protected to the maximum and steps like procurement by TCP and availability of agriculture inputs like quality seed and fertilizers at low price become a regular feature in cotton season every year.
T
he Chairman PCGA said that cotton production this year was going to be far better than previous year and it could do wonders next year if TCP intervenes the market and continues to make it’s presence felt in the years to come.
Meanwhile, the recent PCGA fortnightly report put the total arrival figure at 7.753 million bales including over four (4) million bales from Sindh and 3.736 million bales from Punjab, he expressed.
Out of total, he said 7.53 million bales have been pressed into bales. He said the exporters have bought 290626 bales, adding that textile mills continued to maintain its position as the major buyer with procurement figure of over 6.755 million bales.
Punjab showed a percentage increase of over 48 percent while in Sindh the surge in arrivals recorded at 127 percent compared to last year giving an average increase of 81.13 percent. He said that exactly, 706,942 were lying with ginners as unsold stock. A total of 415 grinning factories are operational in the country including 129 in Sindh a
nd 286 in Punjab, he added.