Cotton crop diseases to cause loss of Rs16 billion

The damage caused by mealy bug and leaf curl virus to the standing cotton crop in the southern Punjab and upper Sindh is estimated to cost Rs16 billion to the national exchequer. The Government has accepted that cotton crop would be short by around 1.3 million bales as revised estimates of production have been placed at 12.8 million bales from the earlier high target of 14.1 million bales. However, private estimates put the ex-farm production of cotton at 12.3 million bales because around 0.5 million bales would go to waste at the ginning stage.

The indifferent attitude and lack of timely initiatives on the part of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) to deal with two diseases have been the main cause of extensive damage to the cash crop, although the diseases were traced at a very early stage.