ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) urged the government to take especial measures to boost cotton production in the country.

The forum also suggested a complete ban on import of cotton to encourage local farmers. “Continued collapse of cotton crop has discouraged cultivators who have started eying other crops which can damage the cotton economy,” PBIF President Mian Zahid Hussain said in a statement.

Hussain said the cotton crop was the backbone of the economy. He said around 15 million bales were needed in the country but the cotton belt could only produce 10.5 million bales, paving way for import of 2.7 million bales from neighbouring countries.