Body to be formed to monitor cotton prices: minister

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Food Security and Research will constitute a committee to keep a check on the cotton price in the country, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam said: “[The] ministry will constitute a Cotton Price Review Committee, which will monitor [the] cotton prices in the country. The committee will direct the TCP [Trading Corporation of Pakistan] to start procurement if prices fall.”

The procurement will be set as 90 per cent of the import parity price, he said, adding that the TCP will initially procure 200,000 bales of cotton, which will ensure that the farmers get direct benefit from its procurement.

The minister expressed the hope that it would stabilise cotton prices in the country, and said the government is working on a cotton revival programme, which will be introduced soon.

The primary aim of this programme is to provide quality input for cotton, especially cotton seed and pesticides in addition to the modernisation of the ginning technology, he added.

The federal government has approved cotton intervention prices, and if the prices fall below Rs5000/40kg of seed cotton, then the intervention policy will be activated, a government official said on Wednesday.

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