ISLAMABAD – Cotton cultivation in Punjab has surpassed 3.011 million acres during the ongoing Kharif season (2025–26), marking an increase from 2.940 million acres sown during the same period last year, according to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
The province has achieved over 86% of its seasonal target of 3.5 million acres, reflecting a positive trend in the sowing of this key cash crop. Last year, the target was 3.221 million acres. A ministry official told a news wire that the government is intensifying efforts to further promote cotton cultivation by ensuring the availability of key agricultural inputs such as certified seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides.
In North Punjab—covering areas including Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore, and Sahiwal—the sowing target for the current season was set at 400,000 acres, up from 317,000 acres last year. So far, 294,000 acres have been cultivated in the region, compared to 269,000 acres during the corresponding period in 2024.
South Punjab districts such as Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Bahawalpur have also shown encouraging progress, with 88% of the sowing target already met. Cotton cultivation in these districts has reached 2.717 million acres, up from 2.671 million acres during the same period last year. The official highlighted ongoing government initiatives to enhance farmer capacity and promote improved crop management practices aimed at maximizing yield.
At the national level, the federal government has set a cotton cultivation target of 2.2 million hectares for the 2025–26 Kharif season, with an overall production goal of 10.18 million bales.
To achieve this, authorities are prioritizing the supply of high-yield certified seeds and the timely provision of essential inputs across major cotton-growing zones, he said, adding that growth in cotton output would help to provide raw material for local industry at sustainable rates.
It is worth mentioning here that textile exports from the country during 10 months of current financial year grew by 8.41 per cent and reached to $14.834 billion as compared to the exports of $13.683 billion of the corresponding period of the last year.
