The Pakistan federal government has recently initiated the launch a project for contamination-free cotton production initially with 50,000 bales, as part of clean cotton programme. The total investment is of Rs 35 million. In the past four years, the same programme had not met with any success.
Following the approval from senior federal authorities, the commerce and textile ministries had finalised the strategy, said a govt. official. The ministries have selected 31 ginning factories, mainly in Punjab and Sindh. The govt. has made a deal with three ginning factories in Punjab. “We have targeted 50,000 contamination-free cotton bales this season. It is not the issue whether we could achieve that or not, as we are more focussed to initiate the project, which was never executed in the past due to many reasons”, said Mr. Syed Masood Alam Rizvi, federal textile secretary.
Assisted by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the Pakistan cotton Standard Institute, the textile ministry would examine the quality of cottonseed procured by 31 ginning factories from growers and recommend a premium with support price to farmers. With
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| the launch of this fresh strategy the authorities are serious over the implementation of the taint-free cotton production programme. But the challenge is getting a fair return. “For this we have fixed Rs 50 per maund for grower as premium to produce contamination-free cottonseed,” said Mr Rizvi.
Similarly, he said, the government would offer Rs 30 a maund premium to 31 ginning factories on production of contamination-free cotton. Among 31 factories, 22 were selected from Punjab, seven from Sindh and two of Balochistan ginneries will get the offer initially, he added. "It is not certain that we will get 50,000 contamination-free cotton this year, as the season nears end,” he said. “But if we succeed to produce any number of taint-free bales this season, it would increase every year.”
The federal government a few years ago announced to amend the cotton Act of 1966 in line with the cotton Standardisation Ordinance of 2002 to fashion grading system in the domestic cotton market. The Pakistan cotton Standard Institute - a federal institution – has already asked both the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab to amend their respective cotton Control Act of 1966 as one of the steps towards taint-free cotton production. 
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