Pakistan, Aug. 5 -- Pakistan used to be a cotton country. A recent report by the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), however, says that cotton production in the country has dropped by 30 percent compared to the same time last year.

This is bad news for both farmers and the textile industry. The biggest fall in production has been seen in Sindh, where output has gone down by 47 per cent. On the other hand, Punjab has done a little better, showing a small 3 per cent increase.

By July 31, a total of 594,000 bales had reached ginning factories, 302,000 from Punjab and 292,000 from Sindh. But there is confusion too.

While the PCGA says Punjab produced 301,000 bales, the Punjab Agriculture Department claims that number is actually 60...