Pakistan-again-far-behind-the-cotton-production-target

Pakistan misses the cotton production target this year which is considered to be a cash crop for the economy. The government aims to reconstitute the cotton production policy.

Cotton is considered to be the key cash crop for our economy. Pakistan had by and by missing the mark regarding the objective set for cotton production this year as revealed by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association in January. Just 8.3 million bunches were delivered as against 10.4m a year ago. Cotton creation has been on the decrease for over 10 years. Punjab, which has the biggest portion of the nation’s cotton, has clearly endured the most. It has additionally observed a fall in the land under cultivation and yield.

This directly had impacted the textile industry of the country. Textiles industries are getting shut. Taking about the reason behind some attribute it towards climate change, water scarcity, global warming. Some say that it is due to the low-grade pesticides and seeds available in the market.

While talking about missing the cotton production target, there is a strong opinion among the growers that accepts that these are false accuses in order to veil the genuine reason for Pakistan’s falling cotton production, which must be researched altogether and fairly. On this depends the eventual fate of cotton in Pakistan, which is currently under threat. The truth of the matter is that cotton’s hardships started when BT cotton entered the farming scene in Pakistan.

When the GMO was carried into Pakistan. It was endorsed by the administration in 2010, yet with no customary testing or trials that were necessary. From that point forward, the absence of transparency appears to have portrayed the backdrop of policymaking on cotton. The biotechnology mammoth Monsanto, which made its debut in Pakistan in 1998, came to rule the farming scene in the nation to the degree that in 2016 it was authoritatively conceded that BT cotton had entered about 85pc of cotton development. Today, it has polluted the whole cotton cultivation.

GMO supporters are just like harsh pundits, yet there is a ton of logical proof highlighting its harmful impacts on human health. They give reasons that it is pest resistant and don’t need pesticides that make the soil toxic while taking the capacity of seed production from the hands of growers. What better evidence is there to highlight its hazards than Pakistan’s cotton creation information, which focuses on the decay of cotton creation agreeing with the expanding utilization of BT seeds.

In this specific situation, the report from Islamabad is generally upsetting. Suddenly Prime Minister set up a committee on transgenic innovation. An official body was set up to perform diverse undertakings identified with cotton development. This was unexpectedly reconstituted. The new body was to investigate the cotton strategy.

There is a piece of good news also from Quetta. Balochistan. They are starting to initiate organic farming. The common government has prohibited the development of GMO seeds in the area. With the assistance of the WWF and the Center for Agriculture and Biosciences International, it has effectively propelled an organic cotton venture that has quite recently finished three years and vows to be an example of success. It intends to grow the developed land and furthermore produce seeds for the farmers. This should be watched cautiously as it could lead the path in our fight against GMOs.

By Ahsan Ali

A young motivated person, interested in research and bioenterpreneurship in Pakistan.