Multan
Cotton commissioner Dr Khalid Abdullah Friday said that Pakistan was moving forward to producing Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) certified cotton in bulk and a million hectares of land would be brought under BCI production technology in 2020 to meet demand of famous international brands.
Internationally famous brands that produce products using cotton as raw material want to buy only BCI cotton after 2025, says Dr. Khalid Abdullah who is also the vice president of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC).
Talking to APP by phone after chairing a consultative meeting on BCI cotton at Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) Multan, he said that BCI is an international body headquartered at Geneva that certifies BCI cotton world wide after a three-tier checking that the cotton was produced employing environment-friendly technology, was socially compliant that no child labour was involved and that women workers were paid in full and carry economic benefits for farmers.
Khalid Abdullah disclosed that Pakistan was the first country to produce BCI certified cotton five years ago and was maintaining momentum to move forward.
He said that many NGOs and Punjab government were also working on BCI plan and targeted to bring one million hectares area under BCI certified cotton in 2020. He added that the BCI initiative recently approved by the ministry of national food security would cover a part of the one million hectare target in five districts.—APP
