PAKISTAN’S cotton economy is in a crisis. Production has fallen from a peak of 14m bales 10 years ago to 5.5m bales during the last crop cycle, increasing the reliance on imports to meet the textile industry’s demand and, in the process, further straining Pakistan’s meagre foreign exchange reserves. There are multiple reasons for the cotton crop’s decline: climate change, poor quality seeds, higher input costs, invasion of traditional cotton areas by the more profitable sugarcane, price volatility, etc. Guided by the success seen with hybrid rice and maize in the country, several private firms have lately........

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