There was a time when cotton was considered the love of Punjab farmers. After the harvest of wheat, all the farmers used to plant cotton with enthusiasm. Even then the farmer had few resources and many problems. But by the labor of the farmer and the power of God, cotton enriched the rural areas. Children were married by selling the cotton crop. In this season, the shops were crowded with shoppers and everyone seemed satisfied. The situation has reversed, and now the situation is that the farmer is not ready to grow cotton.In the past, Pakistan was self-sufficient in cotton production and billions of rupees were earned by exporting two and a half million bales of cotton annually. Now the situation is that 7 million bales are being imported to meet the requirement of textile industries, which will cost three billion dollars. According to All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, the area under cotton cultivation has decreased by 27%. The result of which has come in the form of a loss of 36 billion dollars to the country’s economy in the last ten years.
A farmer has many reasons for not growing cotton. Punjab’s climate was always considered favorable for cotton cultivation, but since the last two decades, environmental changes have also adversely affected cotton production. Every year the increase in temperature and intensity of rains leads to the attack of new diseases on cotton. Two decades ago, cotton planted in February gave the best yield with 2 bags of urea, 5 of water and 5 of spray. Nowadays, due to climate change, cotton is planted in April, May, which is unable to give good yield even after 5 sacks of urea, 10 bags of water and 15 sprays.Farmers object that our research institutes have failed to develop varieties that can withstand environmental changes and give good yields. It is also alleged that nepotism is common in these institutions to supply seeds, due to which the approved varieties are out of reach of the common farmer.
On the other hand, research institutes say that they are not being given funds by the government. The fact is that we spend only 0.18% of GDP on agricultural research, while India spends three times more on agricultural research than us.Three decades ago, the production of cotton in Pakistan was 1.28 million bales while India’s was 1.1 million bales. Today, thanks to research in agriculture, cotton production in India has tripled to 40 million bales and in our country it has been reduced by less than half to 5.5 million bales. Fertilizer, water and pesticides are of primary importance. The main reason for the decline of cotton is the non-availability of inputs, inappropriate price and quality. Last year the seed for cotton cultivation was not available to the farmer due to which the quality of the seed was compromised. Farmers blame the situation on the Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, which looks helpless in the face of the seed mafia every year.
Two and a half years ago, DAP farmers were getting Rs 2,500 per sack, which has now reached Rs 5,500. A unit of electricity which used to cost 5 rupees 35 paisa is now costing 13 rupees per unit. Similarly, the cost of labor and fuel has also increased significantly due to which the production cost of cotton has tripled. On the other hand, the production situation is that the farmers who were getting 30 maunds per acre were looking helpless at 7 maunds per acre last year. This is the reason why this year farmers are focusing on maize, rice, kamad and other profitable crops instead of cotton.The main reason for the destruction of cotton is the establishment of sugar mills in the cotton zone. Most of the sugar mills in Pakistan are owned by political figures. This is the reason why sugarcane cultivation was given undue importance in previous governments and policies were also made to promote it. Cotton was discouraged at the government level, while farmers were lured with support prices for sugarcane cultivation. The result was that the area under cotton decreased day by day and the farmers started to cultivate kamad even in the cotton zone.
It has been scientifically proven that where kamad is cultivated, the climate becomes hot and humid which is favorable for sap-sucking insects. For this reason, the attack of whitefly in cotton has increased alarmingly in the last several years. However, expensive and substandard insecticides have made up for it. The objection of the farmers is also that the government officials receive extortion from the pesticide companies in return for which they are given free rein to loot.Bt cotton was introduced illegally in Pakistan 15 years ago. The result of which was that the production increased temporarily but then the attack of diseases and pests increased. BT cotton revolutionized the world. The world has reached the third generation of Bt cotton but companies are afraid to invest in us because there are no intellectual property rights. Companies and breeders run the risk that as soon as they introduce a new variety, a fake variety will be produced and marketed. This is why the farmer is forced to use traditional and non-approved varieties.
Government policies play an important role in the success or failure of any sector. No special package or support price for cotton was announced in the National Agriculture Emergency Program contrary to the expectations of the farmers. In the days of Corona, subsidy of 1200 billion rupees was given to other sectors, while only 63 billion rupees subsidy was given to agriculture, which is still due. Not only this, the previous government approved the establishment of an endowment fund of three billion rupees for cotton research after the report of the Sartaj Aziz Committee, which has not been released yet.It is heard that the government is also going to abolish duty on imported cotton. This will have the effect that local farmers will also have to sell cotton at a lower price. With this decision, the textile owners will benefit but the farmer will be ruined once again.
