Late wheat harvest delays cotton sowing

Cotton sowing has been delayed for one-and-a-half months, partly due to shortage of water in Sindh and incomplete wheat harvests in Punjab, said Sindh Abadgar Board Secretary-General Syed Nadim Shah. He urged the Government to fix the support price for cotton at Rs 2,000 per maund against Rs 1025 per maund last year and announce the same forthwith to encourage farmers to grow more cotton, which is a cash crop. He said that cotton production this year remained 18% below the target of 14.140 million bales fixed by the government. The Sindh production stood at 2.0718 million bales against a target of 3.0 million bales.