The Sindh government has demanded the federal government to set a new support price of cotton ranging between Rs10,000 to Rs11,000 per maund because farmers are not planting the cotton, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Sindh Agriculture Minister Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Mehar said on Monday that 20 percent sowing of cotton has been done in Pakistan but the farmers are not planting the seeds anymore as they are not expecting a suitable price.

The minister said during the current year cotton crop target was set at 640,000 hectares. The farmers are facing difficulties due to unrealistic price, he added.

Expensive fertilizers, seeds, petroleum products and pesticides have multiplied the expenditure of farmers, the minister said, adding the growers did not get the right price for cotton during the last season, so how will they prepare the crop this time?

If the farmer gets a good price, he will plant cotton, which is direly needed by the country's textile industry, said the minister.

He said in the Kharif season Sindh is afraid that the crop of agricultural commodities, including cotton and rice, will not get due share of water.

The minister rejected the decision to give water to Sindh under the three-pronged formula of Irsa.

Reporter Ajiz Jamali