Cotton major cash crop, govt must incentivize cotton growers: Jawad.

ISLAMABAD -- Secretary General (Federal) FPCCI's Businessmen Panel, Ahmad Jawad said cotton is a major cash crop of the country and can contribute significantly to the economic development as well as agriculture sector progress and prosperity of farming community. In a statement on Sunday, he said the cotton under cultivation area and production declined significantly, as growers shifted from cotton to sugarcane and maize so its output slashed from 15 million bales to 8 million bales. In total, this has caused losses to the tune of $36 billion over the last one decade. Jawad said that production of cotton in India, Brazil, USA and other countries have increased manifold but it was on decline in Pakistan. Because of importing cotton from abroad, the cost of the textile sector increased by 6 percent so this sector became uncompetitive compared to other countries. 'Substandard seeds and pesticides may hit the

agriculture sector this year as well; cotton crop is one of the novel example in this regard,' he added. It noted this was the second consecutive year that cotton growers seemed worried, as substandard seeds had again flooded local markets, especially in Sindh The SG FPCCI's BMP urged the government...