Seed Variety Battles

Monday 20th of February 2012 04:40:23 PM

One of the underreported but continuing battles in the cotton growing industry is the fight between agriculturalists and agronomists over the future of the cotton industry. This week the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association has issued a warning to growers that using two seed varieties approved by the Punjab Seed Council would lead to wasted investment as ginners would not buy the cotton produced by the seed.

The fight is over the distinction between high production cotton varieties which may not produce the quality required by local industries, and low production varieties which are more acceptable on both local and international markets but which are less reliable and may be more prone to failure as a result of climate or pest activity.

The two new varieties, FH-114 and BT-121, both produce short staple cotton, but the Chairman of the Ginners Association says that local producers require long staple cotton and that this is what receives a premium on the world market. He claimed that Pakistan’s agricultural scientists were “…playing with the future of the farmers besides destructing the agricultural sector.”

The issue is complicated by the financial situation. The World Trade Organisation has authorised a two year duty-free export period of over seventy Pakistani textile items to Europe. This is expected to increase domestic raw cotton consumption by around 17%, creating a larger market for Pakistani ginners to sell their yarn, but many observers fear that Pakistan may end up importing quality cotton yarn to obtain the standards required for the European market, which currently accounts for nearly a third of Pakistan’s textile export income. The new high productivity seeds may meet demand for quantity but the Ginners Association appears to believe the varieties will fall short on quality.

Amrita Malik

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