Staff Report
The arrival of seed cotton at the ginning stage has witnessed a decline of 40.28 percent, with analysts saying the ginners faced extreme water shortages of up to 30 percent of average flows at the sowing time.
Massive floods submerging mature plants during the harvesting period, and a failure to drain water even after months of the deluge also contributed to the decline in the arrivals, they added.
According to a report from Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) on Saturday, cotton arrivals fell to 4.280 million bales till December 1, 2022, as compared to 7.168 million bales recorded in the country the previous year.
The monthly flow of seed cotton, locally called as phutti, was recorded at 572,807 bales as compared to 911,099 bales registered the same month last year, PCGA monthly report stated.
The arrival of cotton in the Punjab was recorded at over 2.515 million bales or 31.63 percent lesser as compared to the corresponding period of last year when arrivals had stood at 3.679 million bales. Out of 26 cotton producing districts, as many as seven districts showed a downward trend in the arrival of cotton. The districts include Multan, Lodhran, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Layyah. A steepest fall of 71 percent was seen in Rajanpur District, which was also devastated by the floods this year.
According to the data, Sindh produced 1.765 million bales during the same period, depicting a drop of 49.40 percent over corresponding period of last year when 3.479 million bales reached ginning factories. Out of twelve cotton producing districts in Sindh, a declining trend was witnessed in all the districts except Badeen where a 164 percent increase in cotton arrival was seen.
The most affected district was Naushero Feroz, where 79 percent less production of cotton was recorded.
In total, as per the data compiled out of total 404 ginning factories operational in the country, cotton arrival amounted to 4.280 million bales, against 7.168 million bales reported in the same period last year.
