The Pakistan ministry of textile industry working out plan to get complete advantage of the Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) Plus granted by EU. As a first step they have decided to begin training programme for the cotton growers using electronic media (Radio).

Farmers living in far-flung and remote areas of the country will be introduced to modern technologies for cultivations and crop management through this training programme, said Ministry of Textile Industry Cotton Commissioner Khalid Abdullah.

The ministry of textile industry is in negotiation with Radio Pakistan and Pemra to initiate training programmes from FM radio stations to educate and equip the farmers with latest information about cotton crop cultivation. The government, in collaboration with the research stations, will also provide first-hand training to cotton growers about technology transfer, pest and crop management to enhance crop output in the country.

The federal government, in collaboration with the provincial agriculture departments, has already started the “Clean Cotton Picking” programme which trains about 2,700 females to introduce farmers to clean cotton picking mechanism to enhance the prices of their products.

The programme is extended by one year to train more staff. The commissioner said that the demand for cotton is expected to increase by 28% after the GSP Plus status, which would increase the area under crop cultivation.

The official said that all the other departments including seed certification and bio-safety were also directed to work to fulfill domestic requirements for seeds and pesticides to increase per acre crop production in the country.

The Federal Cotton Committee (FCC) will take stock of availability of other inputs including water, seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, weather conditions and credit availability during the crop sowing season along with setting the production targets for cotton.

Final targets for the crop will be fixed in the meeting of the Federal Cotton Committee (FCC) which is scheduled for the second week next month.