Pakistan Kissan Board has demanded of the government to direct the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to immediately intervene in the cotton market and start buying phutti to stabilize cotton prices. He said that farmers can not store seed-cotton, without ginning, in the humid month of October, as it gets contaminated. It is a conspiracy against the nation in general and the farming community in particular that growers are being deprived of their hard earned money through market manipulation and cash crunch.

He said that phutti prices have come down from Rs 2000 to Rs 1300 per 40 kg and lint prices from Rs 4200 to Rs 2600 per maund between 25 September and October 28, 2008. By manipulating cotton prices, market players are robbing Punjab farmers, Rs 82 billion by reducing phutti prices.He said if the Federal and Punjab governments had any concern for the farming community or the agriculture sector, then it should instruct the TCP to buy at least 3 million cotton bales at September 2008 cotton rates.