Rising temperature to reduce cotton yield in Pakistan: experts

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ISLAMABAD: Upper threshold for cotton production is32 degree Celsius while Pakistan has already crossed the line with average temperature of 36.8 degrees during the cropping period, which would reduce the cotton yield in the Punjab and Sindh by 80% and 50% respectively, experts warned.

This was predicted by Dr Fahad Saeed, Head of Climate Change Unit at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) while speaking at a penal on ‘Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Opportunities for Cotton Supply Chains’.

Dr. Elizabeth Carabine from Overseas Development Institute said that globally more than one billion live in semi-arid lands would be most vulnerable.

Mr Saleem Ashraf from In-Service Agricultural Training Institute, Sargodha said that per acre yield of the Punjab will also decrease in near future. He added that lack of education and conventional ways of cultivating cotton crop are the causes of low per acre yield.