Australia has invited Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) to participate in the international cotton conference organised by Cotton-Australia in August 2014. The country would also assist Pakistani ginners to adapt modern technology to make their business economical and profitable.
Experts say the raw cotton provided to ginners in Pakistan is one of the most contaminated in the world, probably because of substandard picking process, storage and transportation. Contamination affects quality of cotton, which in turn has a negative impact on prices in the market. The ginners use decades old machinery, outdated technology and unskilled workforce, which result into low productivity - reportedly one of the lowest in the world.
Of the total production of cotton the world over, roughly around nine per cent cotton is produced in Pakistan. The yield is the lowest in terms of quantity and worst in terms of quality when compared with other cotton producing countries. In the ginning process in Pakistan, fibre generally constitutes 33 per cent, trash eight per cent and seed 59 per cent of the total cotton produced. The trash level being that high causes considerable loss to the ginners because of lower prices in the market.
Also during the post-production phase, since the industry lacks marketing and negotiation skills to deal with local and international customers, they fail to get the best price for their product. Lack of government support, price mechanism, inflation and allied factors also play their role in adversely impacting the industry.
