Mohsin Naqvi, the interim chief minister of Punjab, plans to present special awards to highlight the successes of those who played a key role in the province’s cotton industry’s resurgence.
According to Commissioner Dr. Ehtasham Anwar Mahaar, Bahawalpur has produced more cotton than ever.
Official cotton planting and harvesting figures this year show that Bahawalpur has surpassed all previous records, with 2,132,000 acres under cultivation. This surpasses the Multan division’s 2006 record of 2,102,000 acresMultan division’s 2006 record of 2,102,000 acres is surpassed by this.
This year, Punjab has planted 4,802,000 acres, of which the Bahawalpur division has planted more than 44 percent.
One of the most important cash crops in the nation, cotton, has recovered well from years of decline and saw a 65 percent reduction in production between 2014 and 2022.
A new generation of triple gene cotton cultivars has played a significant role in the revival by enabling resistance to glyphosate herbicides and pink bollworm. However, whitefly attacks and climate change continue to pose challenges that call for additional R&D and creative agricultural practices.
Nearly 6 million cotton bales have reportedly already reached ginning mills; 2.54 million of those bales (42 percent) came from Punjab and 3.54 million (57 percent) from Sindh, according to the most recent arrival data.
The federal government changed the goal to 11.7 million bales last year, and independent researchers estimated that the country would really produce 10 million bales, therefore the 12.7 million target will be exceeded.
