More than expected monsoon rains, increased chances of cotton leaf curl virus (CLCV) and pest attack and damage from floods along Indus delta will make it further hard for MINFAL to achieve the 13.8 million bales cotton production target this year, said Cotton Commissioner Dr Masood Amjad Rana.

He said that it was premature to estimate the exact losses but the damage caused by continuous rains would seriously hurt the set target of 13.8 million bales for 2006-07. Three districts of lower Sindh, Sanghar, Mirpur Khas and Umerkot, where picking of cotton had already started, were severely hit by monsoon rains. However, in Southern Punjab the crop was not affected by rains but there were increased chances of damage to the crop from CLCV and pest attack. However, total losses would be in between 1.0 million to 1.5 million bales.