MINFAL sets 12.5m cotton bales target
By Tariq Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD—Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock has said that the provisional target of current cotton crop has been set to 12.5 million bales that is below the set target of 15 million bales.
“The cotton will be below the set target as the flood had hit the areas of Rajanpor, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah and Bhakkar and the cotton crop had been suffered,” minister said while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.
He added that the final figures would be released by the end of the November.
He said that the last year cotton crop reached to 14.6 million crop but this year the cotton will be lesser then the target due to the flood in different areas of the lower Punjab.
He said that government had set the target of the wheat crop to 22 million tons for the rabbi season and the 0.7 million ton fertilizer would be imported to meet the domestic needs against the 0.5 million tons last year.
He informed that the target of the potatoes was 18088 tons, onion 16066 tons and the rice 5.14 million tons for the current year against the 5 million tons last year.
He noted the availability of the water reservoirs as 30.64 MAF against 23 MAF last year and said that this water would be less than the required water for the current year.
“However, the canals of Sindh and Punjab Provinces had been closed and the water would be stored for the Rabbi season,” he added.