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Cotton and its battles for survival

by

Mian Iftkhar Afzal, B.Sc (UK), B.S (N.C. State), M.SC (Leeds), FPSI (Pak), C.Text.FTI (UK)

 

1. Introduction

1.1    Distinction of cotton

Pakistan has the distinction that the oldest cotton seed extent (7000 BC) was discovered in Mehargarh, Baluchistan. Indeed collateral evidence is also available that Mehargarh is one of the places where man started to grow food instead of gathering it. Pakistan's second distinction is that it is the home of the only wild species of cotton G.stocksii. The third distinction is that the local Desi cotton is supposed to have been differentiated from its wild ancestors and the fourth distinction is that charkha gin (belna), spinning and weaving were invented in the Indus Valley of Pakistan.

People say cotton is king and they are right. Cotton has been supplying the oxygen to the economy of Pakistan. In spite of all this, it is unfortunate that the king cotton has had to fight a number of battles for its survival.

1.2    Cotton production

1.2.1    Cotton production has increased from 237,000 bales during 1947-48 to 14,600,000 bales in 2004-05.Production data is given in Table 1.

 

Table-1: Cotton production
(000 bales of 170 kg)
1947-48 237
1950-51 1,249
1960-61 1,520
1970-71 2,912
1980-81 4,527
1990-91 9,527
2005-05 14,600
Sources: (1) KCA (2) ICAC and (3) COTISTICS, PCCC.

 

1.3    Yield of cotton

1.3.1    Yield of cotton has increased over the years. Many factors contributed to this increase and have been discussed in detail by many scientists. Yield data is given in Table 2.

 

Table-2: Yield of Cotton (Kg/ha)
1954-55 662
1964-65 731
1974-75 922
1984-85 776
1994-95 800
2004-05 800
Sources: (1)ICAC and (2) World Cotton Statistics

 

1.3.2    Province wise yield data is presented in Table 3.

 

Table-3: Province wise yield (Kg/ha)
Province 1990-91 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04
Punjab 643 609 541 599 549
Sindh 638 696 759 753 680
Balouchistan 493 496 501 447 423
NWFP 340 340 427 340 426
Pakistan 641 624 579 626 571
Sources: (1) Minfal and (2) Afzal & Baluch (2004).

 

1.3.3    As a matter of general interest, yield data of a few provinces of pre-independence India is given in Table 4.

 

Table-4: Yield data of few Provinces of Pre-Independent India (lbs/Ac)
Year India Punjab Behar Sindh Bengal Madras
1922-27 108 117 102 -- 83 90
1927-32 106 140 76 -- 85 90
1932-37 121 87 75 193 78 78
1937-42 122 121 94 196 87 99
Source: (1) AFZAL, M. Problem in cotton improvement in the Punjab.
(2) AFZAL, M. Improvement of yield. Indian Cotton Growing Review Vol. 1, NO:3,1947.

 

 

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