Pakistan
May 4, 2009
Source:
Dawn via
Pakistan Biotechnology
Information Center (PABIC)
Speakers at a seminar said farmers
in the country must switch to genetically modified cotton to
obtain higher yields and better quality product.
Titled “The cotton-textile economy of Pakistan: inter-sectoral
linkages and effects on rural and urban poverty,” the seminar
was organised by the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
(PARC).
Speaking on the occasion, experts said cotton played an
important part in shaping up the economy of Pakistan, and
improving cotton yield would be beneficial for the rural
population as well as the textile sector of the country.
Dr Caesar B. Cororaton, a research fellow at the Institute for
Society, Culture and Environment,Virginia State University of
the US, said cotton, textile and attire industries were key
sectors of the nation’s economy.
He said these vital industries had faced a variety of challenges
and opportunities in recent years not only due to local issues
but al so because of world cotton price instability.
“The overall cotton to textile chain has suffered due to
liberalisation of the multilateral clothing and textile trade
besides sharp swings in the Pakistani macroeconomic situation,”
Dr Cororaton said.
However, he said, Pakistani farmers had not formally adapted to
genetically modified BT cotton but there was some field evidence
of its unregulated use.
He stressed for higher involvement of researches and official
machinery for widescale cultivation of BT cotton.
Dr Cororaton said the economic changes, including an increased
inflow of foreign capital, higher world cotton and textile
prices, would encourage subsidies to the textile industry and
result in increased productivity in the cotton and textile
sectors.
By presenting these scenarios, he offered policymakers and
analysts to foresee shaping up the future of economic growth and
poverty reduction in Pakistan.
Presenting the historic developments in the cotton industry, he
said export controls and taxes kept cotton prices below
international levels until the mid-1990s but during the
subsequent years successive reforms to trade and pricing
policies had rationalised the prices in the country.
“This has also given a greater role for the private sector in
this trade,” he added.
Professor David Orden, director and senior research fellow at
the International Food Policy Research Institute, USA, also
spoke.
The seminar was informed that despite constraints in its
production, storage, and ginning sectors the production of
cotton yarn increased at an annual rate of 4.7 per cent during
1990-2005 in Pakistan. Besides Pakistan’s share in the world
output increased to nearly 10 per cent during the period.
While cotton-related products accounted for nearly 60 per cent
of Pakistan’s export earnings, the textile industry still
produce mostly fabrics of relatively low quality though it has
been successful in expanding its exports of some higher-value
products |
|
