Cotton sowing in Pakistan witnessed a 14 per cent growth this cotton season compared to the figure in the same period last year. During the current season, cotton was cultivated over 2.65 mn hectares to produce over 12.72 mn bales. The sowing target for the 2019-20 crop season was 2.78 mn hectares, said cotton commissioner Khalid Abdullah.
Abdullah said cotton cultivation is over for around 95.2 per cent of the targeted land area, according to Pakistani media reports. Cotton growing in the Punjab province recorded about 9 per cent growth as an area of 2.044 mn hectares was under the crop compared to the target of 2.145 mn hectares. The production target for the province was 7.9 mn bales during this season, he said.
Cotton sowing in Sindh increased by 35 per cent compared to the corresponding period last season. In Sindh, crop was cultivated over 0.608 mn hectares as against the set target of 0.64 mn hectares to produce about 4.6 mn cotton bales during the period under review, he said. Sindh achieved 95 per cent of its sowing target. The crop was cultivated over 0.02 mn hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and over 0.2 mn hectares in Balochistan.
