October 2007
October 25, Dawn	Mealy bug attack on cotton may cause huge forex loss The government has accepted that cotton crop would be short by around 1.3 million bales as revised estimates of production have been placed at 12.8 million bales from the earlier high target of 14.1 million bales. However, private estimates put the ex-farm production of cotton at 12.3 million bales because around 0.5 million bales would go to waste at the ginning stage.
October 25, Dawn	Import of 3m cotton bales likely The country will have to spend huge foreign exchange on importing around 2.5 to 3 million cotton bales to meet the expected shortfall even after harvesting around 12.8 million bales as estimated by the government. Mr. Monnoo said, BT cotton was cultivated by growers by using uncertified seeds, which resulted in a disaster as the mealy bug damaged a very large quantity of standing cotton crop in upper Sindh and lower Punjab.
October 23, Dawn	21st century belongs to biologists and biotechnologists: governor The 21st century belongs to biologists and biotechnologists as they will provide a giant breakthrough to humanity, said Punjab University (PU) Chancellor and Punjab Governor Lt General (r) Khalid Maqbool.
October 20, Daily Times	Govt. missing cotton target by 1.5m bales A target of 14 million bales of cotton, the major cash kharif crop, but it is expected that it might not be achieved due to mealy bug and viral attacks and the crop size would remain at 12.5 million bales. Last year, the government achieved 13 million bales against the set target of 14.6 million bales.
October 19, The News	Pak cotton production cost lower than global average The data from 12 major cotton-producing countries representing various regions and production systems indicated that Turkey was the most expensive country producing raw cotton at 57 cents per kg, followed by Syria at 53 cents per kg. The cost in China (mainland), India (north) and Pakistan (Punjab) was 36 cents, 25 cents and 29 cents respectively for producing one kg of raw cotton.
October 18, Dawn	Mealy bug to cost farmers Rs8bn in Punjab The FAST National University in collaboration with the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences has conducted the research study under the Agriculture Decision Support System (ADSS) project. The aim of the study is to present before the policymakers and researchers a data-driven critical analysis of the relationship between mealy bug and important parameters such as variety, predators, pesticides and weather. The study has cited reports, which fear that mealy bug can destroy 5m bales this year if not controlled in time and that Pakistan is going to miss this year's production target of 14.2 million bales.
October 08, Dawn	Outlook for cotton and rice crops Genetically-modified and hybrid seeds need special handling and a management that demands professional skill. Handled professionally after getting a proper training and observing all codes, the plantation of genetically-modified and hybrid seeds give good results. But lack of it proves counter productive.
October 06, The Post	Plan to boost cotton cultivation in Balochistan Federal government has planned to promote cotton cultivation in 19 districts of Balochistan, which will cost Rs 203 million. The officials said that 19 districts selected for cotton growing are included Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Bolan, Sibi, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Musakhail, Loralai, Kharan (Duki), Killa Saifullah, Zhob, Lasbela, Khuzdar, Kharan, Chagai, Panjgur, Turbat and Aware.