Pakistan Pakistan Economy Updates

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Cotton’s yield challenges

Increasing seed productivity requires new genetic material and certification to protect existing varieties.

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Independent data bears out the scale of the productivity gap. According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee’s 2025 data book, covering the 2024 harvest, Pakistani farmers produce roughly 1.7 tonnes of seed cotton per hectare, against 6.6 tonnes in China and 5.1 tonnes in Australia. In lint terms, the country’s average yield is about 734kg per hectare, or less than a third of China’s 2,125kg and Australia’s 2,265kg. Closing even part of that gap, without adding a single acre, could substantially lift national output, argues Malik.

His argument is that Pakistan has largely exhausted the yield potential of its existing cotton germplasm and needs new genetic material from abroad. He points to South Xinjiang in China, where — according to Guard Agri’s research — cotton varieties yield between 75 and 100 maunds per acre under summer temperatures comparable to South Punjab’s. “We need to test their adaptability here,” he says, cautioning that soil and climatic differences mean nothing can simply be transplanted without local trials.

“It is essential to introduce varieties yielding over 50 maunds in Pakistan,” he says. “We need a revival here, a revolution in cotton where varieties yielding above 50 maunds start coming in. We are working on that.”

Corruption and Adulturation is the biggest hurdle to overcome.

 

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Exports raise food security fears | The Express Tribune

Exports raise food security fears

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LAHORE:
Punjab, long regarded as Pakistan's food basket, remains directly in the spotlight for international markets seeking long-term food security. Middle Eastern destinations, Central Asian economies and China continue to press local policymakers and private entities for diversified agricultural and livestock shipments. Yet a fundamental question lingers: as foreign demand swells, is Pakistan truly ready to step up as a global supplier without starving its own population?