Cotton farmers in Pakistan are in distress and want a bailout package. They say if this is not provided on time they will switch to other crops, and this will reduce the area under cotton cultivation by 20 per cent and bring down production. The main reason behind the cotton collapse has been due to substandard imported seeds. These came under pest attacks. There was no spray available to kill the pink bollworm, which destroyed 60 per cent of the crop.

Reduced cotton prices at home and on the international market have proved to be another disincentive for the millions of farmers depending on cotton crop as they continue to pay heavy input prices. Persistent rains this season, restricted the use of pesticides resulting in a sharp fall in output.

Cotton is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy. A shortage of cotton is expected to hit the textile sector which in turn will be forced to import cotton by drawing on forex reserves. Textile and cotton exports help Pakistan earn $12 billion a year and provide jobs to a huge section of the population.

Pakistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world and has the third largest spinning capacity in Asia (after China and India) with thousands of ginning and spinning units producing textile products from cotton.