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5 COTTON PRODUCTION OF SELECTED DISTRICTS
5.1 According to the final
estimates of the Provincial Agriculture
Departments, highest
producing districts (six in the Punjab and five in Sindh) are tabulated as
under:
Table 3:
Production of some districts of Punjab and Sindh
(2002-03 and 200 1-02)
| |
Punjab |
|
Sindh |
| |
Production (Bales) |
|
Production (Bales) |
|
District |
2002-03 |
2001-02 |
District |
2002-03 |
2001-02 |
|
Bahawalpur |
968,120 |
1,040,480 |
Sanghar |
443,936 |
482,621 |
| R. Y. Khan |
1.075,730 |
1,035,720 |
Ghotki |
581,646 |
518,446 |
| Bahawalnagar |
544,450 |
595,800 |
Nawabshah |
291,646 |
332,282 |
| Vehari |
767,440 |
867,120 |
Sukkur |
139,442 |
133,680 |
| Rajanpur |
650,620 |
760,990 |
Hyderabad |
187,609 |
207,139 |
|
Multan |
600,070 |
582,400 |
|
|
|
|
Total of six districts |
4,606,430 |
4,882,510 |
Total of five districts |
1,664,279 |
1,674,168 |
|
Total of Punjab |
7,664,000 |
8,046,000 |
Total of Sindh |
2,441,803 |
2,443,150 |
|
Percent of Punjab |
60.1% |
60.7% |
Percent of Sindh |
68.2% |
68.5% |
|
Total Pakistan |
2002-03 |
10,075,803 |
| |
2001-02 |
10,489,150 |
Source : Final Estimates of Provincial
Agriculture Departments
5.2 lf production of above 11 districts is taken than these districts produce
62% (2002-03)
and 62.6% (2001-02) of the total cotton produced in Pakistan. Table 3 raises two
very important
and interesting questions.
- Should the Government concentrate only on these 11 districts?
- Should the Government give importance to these 11 districts and concentrate
on remaining cotton producing districts?
5.3 Agriculture is the only segment of economic activity which needs extension
service.
Even those countries, which have very advanced agricultural technology, have
extension
service to take the technology to the farmes. Pakistani farmers need a far
better and extensive
extension service than the Western Countries..
5.4 Traditionally cotton yield of Sindh used to be higher than that of Punjab.
Quality also
used to better than Punjab. NO MORE. There is a strong need to pay more
attention to cotton
in Sindh.
5.5 Baluchistan is a new entrant in cotton cultivation. Soil is virgin and area
is far removed
from this usual habitat for insects and pests. It is ideally suited for organic
cotton.
5.6 Pakistan cotton vision 2010 envisages a target of 15
million bales of cotton. The authors
would like to differ a little and propose the following production targets for
various provinces.
| Punjab |
10 Million |
| Sindh |
6 Million |
| Baluchistan |
4 Million |
| Total |
20 Million |
5.7 Out of the the above about 1,000,000 bales should be
long and extra long staple. This
is needed for import substitution.
PAGE 5
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