Cotton cultivation in Punjab has expanded significantly during the ongoing 2025–26 Kharif season, reaching 2.116 million acres, up from 1.806 million acres during the same period last year, according to the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
Punjab has set an ambitious cultivation target of 3.5 million acres for the season, compared to 3.221 million acres in the previous year. A ministry official reported that approximately 60 percent of the province’s target has already been achieved.
The government is promoting cotton cultivation by ensuring the availability of essential agricultural inputs, including certified seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. In North Punjab—which includes key districts like Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore, and Sahiwal—the sowing target has been set at 400,000 acres, compared to 317,000 acres last year. So far, 218,000 acres have been cultivated in the region, up from 184,000 acres in the corresponding period of 2024.
South Punjab has also shown a notable upward trend, particularly in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Bahawalpur, where 61 percent of the sowing target has been achieved. Cultivation in the southern districts currently covers 1.898 million acres, an increase from 1.622 million acres during the same time last year.
The ministry noted that efforts are underway to improve local farming practices and crop management techniques in order to boost yield and meet national production goals. For the 2025–26 Kharif season, the federal government has set a national cotton cultivation target of 2.2 million hectares and aims to produce 10.18 million bales of cotton.
To support these targets, authorities are focusing on the timely distribution of high-yield seeds and agricultural inputs in major cotton-producing areas across the country.