In a big effort to aid cotton farmers, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday authorized Rs. 8,500 per 40 kg as the support price of cotton.
He instructed that the problem be urgently brought before the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). The prime minister encouraged the provinces to guarantee that the cotton price decision was carried out while presiding over a meeting of the agricultural task group.
PM stated that cotton served as the foundation of Pakistan’s textile industry and expressed confidence that the move would help farmers.
PM Shehbaz emphasized the value of cotton in generating foreign exchange and promised that the government would offer all assistance to the provinces. He also said that measures were being taken to increase cotton production on an acre-by-acre basis.
Sharif asked the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to finalise ideas for enhancing cotton productivity. In the conference, it was brought up that the cotton harvest the previous year had been significantly reduced due to widespread flooding, severe rains, a lack of canal irrigation water, and a fertiliser issue.
Nevertheless, it has been anticipated that this year’s total cotton production will be 12.77 million bales, a considerable increase over the previous year “due to government measures”.
The meeting was attended by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, the Minister for National Food Security Tariq Bashir Cheema, the Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Raza Naqvi, the PM’s Advisor Ahad Cheema, and other pertinent authorities.
