Cotton, which is also known as “White gold”, is an important crop in many developing countries. Cotton fiber is one of the main fibers in the world used as a raw material for the textile industry and has a significant economic benefit of at least 600 billion dollars per year. Achieve genetic diversity and sustainability in cotton cultivation and use bio-based alternatives procession and mutations in various biochemical, morphological, and genetic traits.
About 25 million tons of cotton are grown worldwide each year. Pakistan is a top producer and consumer of cotton in the world as it ranked 5th. It contributes 60% to Pakistan’s total export as it provides raw materials to the textile industry. As it contributes 0.6% to GDP and 3.1%value added to the agriculture sector. Cotton is important to the cash crop. During 2019-20, the crop was cultivated on 2,517 thousand hectares, and in 2020-21, the area cultivate was 2,079 thousand hectares, which was 17.4% less than the last year. Production reduced by 22.8% and 9.148 million bales to 7.064 million bales. According to Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), there was a massive decline in production that was the lowest in 30 years. In 2022-23, the Federal Committee on Agriculture (FCA) fixed the target for cotton production at 11 million bales over a cultivated area of 3.1 million hectares.
The textile sector was badly affected by the worse decline in cotton production during the last 15 years. The production of cotton is just about half of what it was producing a few years ago. The per-acre yield of Pakistan’s growers is 50% less than the global growers but the price of cotton in our country is equal to that of other countries of the world. It’s a problem for our growers because of the low yield. That’s why our growers cultivate other crops instead of cotton, especially rice and maize. Due to this cultivation of cotton is reduced and the area for other crops increases.
Pakistan is an agricultural country, but the decline in cotton production in recent years is a serious problem for the country’s textile industry and economy. Factors contributing to sluggish cotton production include; heavy rain during planting, high temperatures during flowering, soil conditions, pest infestations, weeds infestation, and lack of modern facilities. Other challenges for low cotton production are social and economic, including an illiterate farming community, high cost of inputs, small land size and low adoption of modern technology by farmers, lack of farmer guidance, and high production and market costs. The most important is the cost of production.
Pests over 1,326 pest species have been reported in commercial cotton fields worldwide but only a small percentage is grown on cotton. In Pakistan, 150 species of pests including pink bollworm, whiteflies, aphid, American bollworm, spotted bollworm, and some others. 2.5 million Bales are destroyed every year in Pakistan due to pests attacks.
Weeds infestation weeds hinder the growth of cotton plants and compete with them for resources. All types of weeds affect cotton production. Due to weeds cotton production was reduced by more than 30%.
Seed quality in our region, ten years old seed varieties are still cultivated without any improvement in the quality of seed. Due to this, the quality and yield of cotton production do not exceed a certain limit.
Soil condition and fertility in Pakistan: Organic matter in soil is less than 1% which is very low compared to other agricultural countries. Micronutrients deficiency like boron (B) and other nutrients reduce crop production.
Water quantity and quality issue; due to poor management practices and low quantity of water, the cotton crop is badly affected and its production and quality are also reduced. In recent Pakistan faced water scarcity in 2003 and yield reduction was 1.1%. Drought stress has a bad impact on cotton yield and quality.
Inappropriate and excessive use of chemicals and fertilizers; in Pakistan, farmers use chemicals or fertilizers without any thought, and they do not know anything about those chemicals, for which disease they are for which pests. In 2009, cotton producers utilized 6.2% of the total global pesticide sales and 14% of insecticides for all crops. Poor spraying techniques and old traditional methods affect cotton production.
Diseases such as pests, weeds, soil conditions, and poor agricultural practices affect cotton production same as there are a number of diseases that also decrease cotton production. For example, cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV), in 1993-94, about 0.89 million hectares were badly affected resulting in about two million bales, losses due to CLCuV. Due to this yield decreased from 1.445 million metric tons in 1992, to 1.105 metric tons in 1993 respectively. Other diseases are seedling diseases caused by fungi and black root rot and bacterial blight.
Outlook gave the importance of cotton cultivation in the nation’s economy. It is possible to study the problems and difficulties associated with this crop and act on them carefully.
The government should provide good quality seeds, fertilizers, and chemicals to produce high yields. The government should also provide loan facilities to the farmers so that they can increase crop production. The government should introduce new seed varieties, that are pest resistant and high yield production. To overcome water problems, by the construction of small and medium dams, so that utilization of water inefficient way. Restoring the productivity by controlling because there are not a sufficient number of dams in Pakistan.
There are various management practices that should be followed for high yield. First, of we should educate our farmers so that they are able to use modern technology, appropriate methods for crop management include watering the crop, sowing and harvesting the crop, and proper use of pesticides and fertilizers. Because proper management of crops produces a high yield.
Due to severe environmental conditions, there is a need for heat-resistant varieties to reduce environmental risks through breeding and genetics. New genetic varieties are able to grow in salinity and water ingress so that area cultivation increased.
The government should provide marketing facilities to the farmers so that they can easily purchase fertilizers, and chemicals and sold out their crops. Relationship between farmers’ market and research – enhanced relationships are important to farmers from crowding out intermediaries and enhancing the use of technology.
