Aptma warns Pakistan may lose another cotton season as revival plan stalls

Pakistan’s cotton revival plan approved by a high-powered committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar has stalled due to delays in implementation, prompting the textile industry to warn that the country may lose another cotton season and face higher cotton imports.

In a letter dated May 20, 2026, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma) Chairperson Kamran Arshad informed Ishaq Dar that no major reform approved during the sixth meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Essential/Cash Crops on October 22, 2025 had been implemented despite repeated reminders.

Aptma said the delay had already affected the ongoing cotton sowing season and could force Pakistan to spend billions of dollars on cotton imports again.

“The continued non-implementation of the approved roadmap is causing serious concern within the cotton sector and undermining the national objective of cotton revival,” the association stated while seeking Dar’s intervention.

The reform package approved by the committee included restructuring the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) into a Pakistan Cotton Advisory Council (PCAC), introducing industry-led governance, shifting cotton cess collection to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and allocating 70% of cess funds for cotton research and development.

According to official minutes issued by the Ministry of National Food Security & Research, the committee had also directed authorities to give the cotton industry majority representation in the new governance structure and finalise the institutional mechanism at the earliest.

However, Aptma said no notifications, implementation framework or operational measures had been issued more than six months after approval.

In a separate communication to Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain, the association said officials had assured implementation before the start of the cotton season during a January 29 meeting, but no practical progress followed.

The textile body has demanded immediate operationalisation of the PCAC, legal amendments for FBR-led cess collection, activation of the 70% R&D funding mechanism, formation of an industry-led governance structure and issuance of a clear implementation timeline.

Pakistan’s cotton sector has faced declining production in recent years due to weak seed systems, climate pressures, pest attacks, inconsistent policymaking and poor research performance, increasing the country’s reliance on imported cotton for the textile industry.

Official minutes from the October 2025 meeting showed that the Ministry of National Food Security secretary attributed weak performance of the PCCC to chronic funding shortages, noting that cotton cess rates had remained unchanged since 2011.

Industry stakeholders warned that continued delays in implementing the approved reforms could further undermine cotton revival efforts at a time when sowing is already underway and external financing pressures remain elevated.