The ‘Cotton Crop Intervention Policy’ expired without making any intervention whereas the prices of the cotton crops remained stable above the benchmark of Rs5,000 per 40-kilogram. The Policy was meant to intervene if the prices of 40-kilogram cotton slipped down from Rs5,000 per 40kg, official sources said adding that the purpose of the policy was to ensure minimum support price of the crop and encourage growers to bring more area under cotton cultivation. Owing to the policy, the prices of the commodity remained stable in local markets across the country throughout the season. The stability in the local cotton market was attributed to the vigilance of the Cotton Crop Intervention Committee, which was constituted to ensure proper monitoring measures to maintain stability in local cotton markets, besides ensuring a better return to farmers for their produces as well as protecting them from exploitation. An official in the Ministry of National Food Security and Research told APP that the federal cabinet in its meeting had approved the proposal of the Ministry of National Food Security for setting the intervention price of cotton at Rs5,000 per 40kg. The government has decided that if prices fell below that level, the intervention policy would be activated. The cotton prices during the current season observed stability in local as well as international markets, he said adding that due to the increasing trend of the commodity in the international market, prices of crops remained stable in local markets as they never touched the minimum price benchmark set at Rs5,000 per 40 kg. He informed that due to proper rate of return and batter crop management practices adopted by the local farming community, cotton production had witnessed about 30pc growth despite that the area under crop sowing witnessed about 7pc decline during the current season. He said that government was also determined to maintain the momentum as promotion and development of this vital crop would have a vast impact on the economic development of the country as a large portion of the local population was directly or indirectly associated with this crop of vital importance. The government was also working on a cotton revival program, aiming to provide quality input for cotton, especially cottonseed and pesticides, in addition to modernization of ginning technology.