Pakistani Production Down More Than 11%

By Jim.Robinson|March 27, 2013

According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginner Association (PCGA), the country’s output up to March 15 this year shows an 11.7% fall compared to production achieved during the corresponding period last year.

Last season’s numbers show an output of 14.548 million bales, while this year’s numbers show only 12.845 million bales reaped.

PCGA’s former executive member Ihsanul Haq noted that excessive rains at the beginning of the 2012 growing season could be to blame for the 50% to 55% fall in the germination capacity for the seed, which is well below the standard 75% requirement.

This dive in germination capacity caused a crisis of certified seeds in Punjap and Sindh, which required the Punjab seed corporation and the Seed Association of Pakistan to urge the government to lower germination standards to 50% in order to ease the availability of certified seeds for farmers during the planting season.

Due to all of the difficulty at the beginning of the growing season, expected production was lowered from 14.6 million bales to 13.3 million bales.