Farmers Told Not to Sell Cotton For Less Than Rs. 8,500 Per 40 Kg

Caretaker Chief Minister of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday asked farmers not to sell cotton below the government-announced support price of Rs. 8,500 per 40 kg. In a tweet, he directed the Secretary of Agriculture and all divisional administrations to strictly implement the Minimum Support Price announced for cotton by the government. The government had announced a support price of Rs. 8,500 per 40 kg in March which was welcomed across the board, but the implementation has been minimal in both Punjab and Sindh. Karachi Spot Market has kept the Cotton prices stable at Rs. 17,000 per kg but the seed cotton being bought in the ginners is still priced somewhere between Rs. 7,000-8,000 in the local markets. Whilst the government previously authorized the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to purchase cotton at the support price, ginners believe it will take some time for authorities to really kick off the process. Pertinently, the primary drivers of the slump are higher production and sales tax imposed on ginners. If the weather remains satisfactory, experts anticipate cotton production to cross 10 million bales which will be the highest since 2017-18, implying a stable price distribution for upcoming rate reviews. However, this does not guarantee that farmers will receive their fair share of the pie, or that they will continue to be on the losing end as they have always been.