ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has accorded in-principle approval to set the price of cotton at Rs8500 per 40 kilogram for this year. The approval was granted during a review meeting of the Agricultural Task Force that was held here in Islamabad on Monday with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.

During the meeting, a detailed discussion was held on increasing the production of cotton and setting its support price. The meeting was informed that last year there was a substantial reduction in cotton production due to floods, rains, shortage of canal water and fertilizer crisis. The total production of cotton this year is estimated at 12.77 million bales, while not only the area under cotton cultivation but also the yield per acre is expected to increase significantly. The per acre coast of cotton and its comparison with other crops was also presented to the meeting.

The Prime Minister directed to submit the support price of cotton to the Economic Coordination Committee for approval at the earliest. He said the provincial governments should ensure the provision of fixed price of cotton to the farmers. He also directed the federal government to provide all possible assistance to the provincial governments to implement the fixed support price.

The Prime Minister said the government is taking steps on priority basis to increase the per acre production of cotton. For this purpose, he directed the Ministry of National Food Security to speedily complete its work in formulating proposals to increase the per acre yield of cotton.