MULTAN,Jan 31th:Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has said ,"we should adopt modern technology to achieve the target of 20 million bales of cotton.If we managed to achieve this target then we would be able to earn maximum foreign exchange and there would be no need of foreign loans and begging loans from the IMF ,World bank and other monetary institutions.Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) headed by its chairman Ch.Masood 'A Majeed in Circuit house Multan on Sunday, Prime Minister also issued instructions to concerned authorities for the establishment of Ginning Research Institute in Multan and assured that it would be completed soon.Prime Minister assured to allot a plot to PCGA for construction of its office in Islamabad and to resolve their problems.Prime minister listened the grievances of ginners patiently and issued orders on the spot. Prime Minister agreed to inaugurate the building of Rahimyarkhan Chamber building during his visit to this city on February 12,on the request of former chairman of PCGA Haji Muhammad Ibrahim.The delegation expressed its reservation on the issuance of licences for the establishment of sugar mills in cotton zone describing it detrimental to country's economy.It said that Pakistan needs foreign exchange not sugar and we should bring maximum area under cotton crop to achieve the objective of 20 million bales of cotton.The delegation further said that our neighbouring country had multiplied its production by using modern technology.The delegation was comprised on Masood 'A Majeed, Shehzad Ali Khan Vice Chairman(North),Mian Rashid Mehmood vice chairman (South) Haji Muhammad Akram, Haji Muhammad Ibrahim ex-Chairmen of PCGA,Amanullah Qureshi,Mukhtar Ahmed Khan, Hafeez Anwar, Khawaja Muhammad ilyas ,Khalid Hanif Lodhi and Rao Sadar-uddin.
MULTAN,Nov 3rd : Cotton production in the country has declined by 17.55 percent as the arrivals recorded at the ginneries as on November ,1st stood at 60,71,644 bales, showing a decrease of 17.55 percent from 73,63,929 bales received in the corresponding period of last year.President of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA)Ch.Masud A Majeed and Nawab Shehzad Ali Khan Vice chairman briefed about the fortnightly report, Punjab, the major cotton producing province, contributed 34,99,162 bales, Sindh contributed 25,72,482 bales and Balochistan 15,455 bales to take the total to 60,71,644 bales. District-wise production data showed that Multan contributed 1,46,483 bales; Lodhran 72,913 bales, Khanewal 3,74,751 bales, Muzaffargarh 93,451, Dera Ghazi Khan 1,24,449, Rajanpur 93,173, Layyah 75,389, Vehari 4,31,113 bales, Sahiwal 3,17,790 bales, Pakpattan 1,55,501 bales, Okara 25,900 bales, Kasur 3850 bales, Toba Tek Singh 1,54,310 bales, Faisalabad 72,750 bales, Jhang 80,050 bales, Mianwali 34,500 bales, Bhakkar 43600 bales, Rahim Yar Khan 3,27,050 bales, Bahawalpur 3,94,139 bales, and Bahawalnagar 4,63,000 bales.
Sindh's district-wise production figures are: Hyderabad 2,67,182 bales, Mirpurkhas 2,90,636 bales, Sanghar 12,08,909 bales, Nawabshah 2,38,400 bales, Naushero Feroze 136,855 bales, Khairpur 1,42,901 bales, Ghotki 51,592 bales, Sukkur 1,45,825bales, and Dadu 74,727 bales.
Balochistan added 15,455 bales to the total. The arrivals recorded so far are the lowest figure Pakistan ever had. PCGA claimed that 2 million bales were destroyed in recent floods in Punjab and Sindh. Policy-makers may hope that bumper cotton crop will help the government make deficiency in other areas, taking the annual growth rates to over 7 percent.
PCGA chairman Masud A majeed has demanded of the government to announce relief and bail-out package for cotton ginning factories of flood-hit areas and survey of such areas should be completed very soon. The report said that the ginners pressed 54,43bales and 10,48,462 bales were available with ginners as unsold stock.
Sindh's district-wise production figures are: Hyderabad 2,67,182 bales, Mirpurkhas 2,90,636 bales, Sanghar 12,08,909 bales, Nawabshah 2,38,400 bales, Naushero Feroze 136,855 bales, Khairpur 1,42,901 bales, Ghotki 51,592 bales, Sukkur 1,45,825bales, and Dadu 74,727 bales.
Balochistan added 15,455 bales to the total. The arrivals recorded so far are the lowest figure Pakistan ever had. PCGA claimed that 2 million bales were destroyed in recent floods in Punjab and Sindh. Policy-makers may hope that bumper cotton crop will help the government make deficiency in other areas, taking the annual growth rates to over 7 percent.
PCGA chairman Masud A majeed has demanded of the government to announce relief and bail-out package for cotton ginning factories of flood-hit areas and survey of such areas should be completed very soon. The report said that the ginners pressed 54,43bales and 10,48,462 bales were available with ginners as unsold stock.
MULTAN, May 28th:Pakistan is losing around $1 billion on account of shortfall in cotton production and its imports every year, Australian cotton expert Dr Neil Forrester said Thursday.
Speaking to participants of seminar on Biotech Cotton in Pakistan via satellite link at National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, he said in order to meet the rising demand of local textile industry it is the right time for Pakistan to get latest cotton technologies otherwise economic cost of imports would continue to rise. “Weeds issue in Pakistan cotton crop is a serious inhibitor on attaining better yields and technology like Roundup Ready Flex and Liberty Link, which available commercially can help Pakistan to tackle this issue,” he added.He said low Bt toxin and poor gene expression in Bt cottonseeds could render trouble for Pakistan’s cotton crop. Karachi Cotton Association member Shakeel Ahmad said Dr Forrester had also visited KCA for providing his expert opinions a couple of years ago.
Ahmad said, “Without giving Intellectual Property Rights to the mainstream science international organisations, the use of spurious seeds and other seed varieties in the name of Bt cotton cannot be avoided.
Hundreds of tonnes of fake Bt varieties are available in Sindh and Punjab with the connivance of agriculture and food department, which was damaging the cotton production every year, Ahmad lamented.
The Seed Act and Plant Breeders Rights Act are under consideration in the parliament and hopefully these will be passed soon, Ahmad hoped.
The laboratories test reports indicate local varieties approved for commercialisation fall well below the optimum standard of 1.8 ug microgramme per gram of fresh weight, he added.
Pakistan spends about more than Rs 10 billion on import of various kinds of pesticides and about 75 percent of them are used in cotton.
“The government wants the company to install its gems in local seed but the company is interested in bringing Hybrid Cotton technology of Indian origin.” This issue is highly important and should be resolved, Ahmad added.
The officials said that they wanted Monsanto to work together with local cotton institutions for increasing cotton production in the country on the basis of public-private partnership.
Monsanto has offered its hi-tech Bollguard-II for enhancing cotton output and to meet local demand of the commodity. The government of Pakistan and Monsanto signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2010 with hope that the country could be able to get the state-of-the-art technology and establish sustainable cotton cultivation and yields. He said from 2004-05 till last cotton production in 2006-09, the projected targets for cotton yields were not being met due to continuing crop losses and poor government policies.
Ministry of Food and Agriculture Additional Secretary Shahid Hussain Raja said the government was trying very hard to improve the IPRs and improve the legal framework so that private sector feels comfortable in investing in Pakistan’s agriculture sector.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Director General Dr Yousaf Zafar described the development and efforts which have been made so far to improve cotton seed verities, but wanted more efforts to seek collaboration from Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta and other companies for achieving the desired results for biotechnology in Pakistan.
Speaking to participants of seminar on Biotech Cotton in Pakistan via satellite link at National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad, he said in order to meet the rising demand of local textile industry it is the right time for Pakistan to get latest cotton technologies otherwise economic cost of imports would continue to rise. “Weeds issue in Pakistan cotton crop is a serious inhibitor on attaining better yields and technology like Roundup Ready Flex and Liberty Link, which available commercially can help Pakistan to tackle this issue,” he added.He said low Bt toxin and poor gene expression in Bt cottonseeds could render trouble for Pakistan’s cotton crop. Karachi Cotton Association member Shakeel Ahmad said Dr Forrester had also visited KCA for providing his expert opinions a couple of years ago.
Ahmad said, “Without giving Intellectual Property Rights to the mainstream science international organisations, the use of spurious seeds and other seed varieties in the name of Bt cotton cannot be avoided.
Hundreds of tonnes of fake Bt varieties are available in Sindh and Punjab with the connivance of agriculture and food department, which was damaging the cotton production every year, Ahmad lamented.
The Seed Act and Plant Breeders Rights Act are under consideration in the parliament and hopefully these will be passed soon, Ahmad hoped.
The laboratories test reports indicate local varieties approved for commercialisation fall well below the optimum standard of 1.8 ug microgramme per gram of fresh weight, he added.
Pakistan spends about more than Rs 10 billion on import of various kinds of pesticides and about 75 percent of them are used in cotton.
“The government wants the company to install its gems in local seed but the company is interested in bringing Hybrid Cotton technology of Indian origin.” This issue is highly important and should be resolved, Ahmad added.
The officials said that they wanted Monsanto to work together with local cotton institutions for increasing cotton production in the country on the basis of public-private partnership.
Monsanto has offered its hi-tech Bollguard-II for enhancing cotton output and to meet local demand of the commodity. The government of Pakistan and Monsanto signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2010 with hope that the country could be able to get the state-of-the-art technology and establish sustainable cotton cultivation and yields. He said from 2004-05 till last cotton production in 2006-09, the projected targets for cotton yields were not being met due to continuing crop losses and poor government policies.
Ministry of Food and Agriculture Additional Secretary Shahid Hussain Raja said the government was trying very hard to improve the IPRs and improve the legal framework so that private sector feels comfortable in investing in Pakistan’s agriculture sector.
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Director General Dr Yousaf Zafar described the development and efforts which have been made so far to improve cotton seed verities, but wanted more efforts to seek collaboration from Monsanto, Bayer, Syngenta and other companies for achieving the desired results for biotechnology in Pakistan.
MULTAN,April 18th: President of Anjum Kashtkaran Punjab (AKP)Abdul Ali Zakir Usmani said that Punjab Chief Minister has assured that proprietory right would be given to landless tennants and the Punjab government is in the process of resolving the outstanding issue of tenants’ land rights in the province.He welcomed the Chief Minister's assurance that negotiation would be held only with genuine representatives of tenants. He said the issue would be resolved soon. AKP president A.A.Zakir Usmani said that separate committees were being established for each government farm.He appreciated the tennants who reached at Lahore from various districts of Punjab, including Khanewal ,Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Nankana Sahib and Sargodha and held a peaceful rally. He further said that tennants had observed the International Day of Peasant Struggle, for the first time in the history of Paskistan aiming at highlighting the struggle of tenants who have been deprived of their right to own piece of land.AKP president demanded distribution of land among the farmers who had been cultivating it for decades. opposed the feudalism and corporate farming as multinational companies should have no role in agriculture as it would greatly hurt interest of small farmers. He said the government was buying time and did not intend to allocate farm land to tenants. He was of the view that two years had passed since the formation of a civilian government but nothing concrete could be done to resolve problems of tenants.He however, welcomed distribution of 5,300 plots of 10 marla each to landless farmers in Okara by the Punjab chief minister. He said it was a good step but the provincial government should also take steps for distribution of agriculture land to tenants.
MULTAN, Feb 22nd:Michael Phillip,An energy efficiency expert of USAID has said that USAID would instal 200 new egency efficient tubewells in South Punjab's 13 districts and it would upgrade 11,000 tube wells across Pakistan making them energy-efficient to consume 20 per cent less electricity than other tube wells.Of them some 1,100 tube wells would be upgraded in south Punjab. Delivering his lecture at a meeting of executive committee of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) here on Monday, which was chaired by Senior Vice-President Khawaja Muhammad Usman. While Mian Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh former president of FPCCI, Shamshad Jafri, Mazhar Hayat Khan Khakwani,Hammad Khan and Mirza Ali Ahmed also present in the meeting. Michael Phillip said tube well owners could either contact USAID directly or through MCCI to get their water lifting equipment upgraded and reduce its operational cost. He said that South Punjab has the potential to save 25 to 30 per cent of the energy used in the agriculture sector by making the existing tubewell system energy efficient. Khawaja Usman said that present regime was considering the option of improving the energy efficiency of existing tube wells through retrofitting and / or replacing the existing inefficient pumping systems with efficient equipment an replacing / supplementing existing source of power (grid electricity) for driving tube wells with renewable energy resources (solar and wind). A national Programme needs to be devised separately for both Intervention based on the technical, economic and social viability of these interventions.He told the participants that 50 percent cost of newly installed tubewell would be borne by the USAID and remaining 50 percent by the KASB bank which would be recovered in easy instalments.Usman khawaja said that
the overall objective and purpose of the study is to identify the improvement potential of pumping efficiency of the existing tube wells and the potential for supplementing conventional energy supply fur tube-wells with renewable energy pumping systems, with stakeholders' involvement The study will determine technical, financial, economic and social viability of both interventions by piloting appropriate systems, separately and In combination, for efficiency improvement and renewable energy interventions and suggest the most viable option under different conditions, it also includes formulation of the Participatory Scheme Development Process for such interventions. Khawaja Usman said that the tube well owners would not be asked to return the cost of upgrading that would result in saving 20 megawatts of electricity per annum in South Punjab alone.He disclosed that Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) had offered to provide complete funding of up to Rs250 million for any project that could benefit a larger segment of population, manufacture export-oriented products and lessen unemployment.
the overall objective and purpose of the study is to identify the improvement potential of pumping efficiency of the existing tube wells and the potential for supplementing conventional energy supply fur tube-wells with renewable energy pumping systems, with stakeholders' involvement The study will determine technical, financial, economic and social viability of both interventions by piloting appropriate systems, separately and In combination, for efficiency improvement and renewable energy interventions and suggest the most viable option under different conditions, it also includes formulation of the Participatory Scheme Development Process for such interventions. Khawaja Usman said that the tube well owners would not be asked to return the cost of upgrading that would result in saving 20 megawatts of electricity per annum in South Punjab alone.He disclosed that Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) had offered to provide complete funding of up to Rs250 million for any project that could benefit a larger segment of population, manufacture export-oriented products and lessen unemployment.
MULTAN,Feb 19th:Former Federal Minister for Foor & Agriculture Alhaj Sikandar Hayat Bosan has said that there might be shortage of grain in Pakistan if the area under wheat, maize,rice was shrunk gradually and we should endeavour to increase the cultivated area and adopting modern technology to increase the per acre yield and compete the world. Talking to newsmen here on friday he said that Wheat sowing area has shrunk by a nominal 0.2 per cent to 22.303 million acres during fiscal year 2009-10 compared to cultivation of 22.35 million acres in the previous year which is an indication of gradually shrinking of grain cultivation area.He said that present government had totally neglected the agriculture sector and left the farmers at the mercy of hoarders, adulterators and profiteers who were fleecing them ruthlessly.He said that MINFA report revealed that irrigated area for wheat cultivation increased two per cent to 19.7 million acres while rain-fed area dropped 14 per cent to 2.603 million acres. Last year, the irrigated area was 19.325 million acres and Barani area 3.026 million acres.It says in Punjab total area under wheat cultivation (barani and irrigated) increased 0.142 million acres to 17.035 million acres. In Sindh, the sown area decreased 0.026 million acres to 2.521 million acres.In NWFP, the area fell 0.61 million acres to 1.842 million acres while in Balochistan it dipped 0.103 million acres to 0.907 million acres in 2009-10.Only in Punjab the irrigated area increased and in other provinces it decreased. In Punjab, the irrigated area rose 0.467 million acres to 15.649 million acres and barani area fell 0.325 million acres to 1.385 million acres.In Sindh, irrigated area declined 0.007 million acres to 2.428 million acres while barani area was down 0.026 million acres to 0.093 million acres.In NWFP, irrigated area declined 0.006 million acres to 0.813 million acres and barani area fell 0.055 million acres to 1.028 million acres.Irrigated area in Balochistan dropped 0.067 million acres to 0.81 million acres and barani area shrank 0.036 million acres to 0.97 million acres.Sikandar Bosan said that owing to canal water shortage and drought fears in certain areas, Iam confident that production of rabi crops would be eight to ten percent less than the official target and we would be able produce 21 to 23 million tonnes of wheat in the upcoming Rabi season.Though the government is optimistic about sufficient quantity of wheat in the domestic market, common man still believes smuggling, hoarding and profiteering can aggravate the situation. The government has to keep a vigilant eye on the issue.He said that in 2008-09, Pakistan harvested a record wheat crop of 24.03 million tons from an area of 22.36 million acres, an increase of 14 per cent compared to 2007-08 wheat harvest of 21 million tons.He said that cost of production was increasing day by day and farmers had to use 9 per cent more DAP fertiliser to save their produce inspite of this fact that DAP price was beyond their reach.Farmers did on their own every thing like consum of more Urea than last year,use of certified wheat seeds, land-leveling method and herbicides to boost wheat production.