Central Cotton Research Institute, Multan was established in 1970 by the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Government of Pakistan with the task to carry out research and development work in a coordinated approach by different disciplines on various aspects of production of quality cotton. The Institute initially started functioning with five sections viz., Cytogenetics, Entomology, Pathology, Physiology and Statistics.also have

Multan is a city in south central Punjab province. It is built just east of the Chenab River. About 966 km from Karachi and more or less right in the center of the country lie the ancient city of Multan. Multan, the 'City of Pirs and Shrines' is a prosperous city of bazaars, mosques, shrines and superbly designed tombs.A circular road around the rampart gave access to the city through thirteen gates. Some of the imposing structures of these gates are still preserved. In the bazaars of the Old City one still comes across tiny shops where craftsmen can be seen busy turning out master-pieces in copper, brass, silver
Pakistan is the fifth largest producer of cotton in the world, the third largest exporter of raw cotton, the fourth largest consumer of cotton, and the largest exporter of cotton yarn. 1.3 million farmers (out of a total of 5 million) cultivate cotton over 3 million hectares, covering 15 per cent of the cultivable area in the country. Cotton and cotton products contribute about 10 per cent to GDP and 55 per cent to the foreign exchange earnings of the country. Taken as a whole, between 30 and 40 per cent of the cotton ends up as domestic consumption of final products. The remaining is exported as raw cotton, yarn, cloth, and garments.Cotton production supports Pakistan’s largest industrial sector, comprising some 400 textile mills, 7 million spindles, 27,000 looms in the mill sector (including 15,000 shuttleless looms), over 250,000 looms in the non-mill sector, 700 knitwear units, 4,000 garment units (with 200,000 sewing machines), 650 dyeing and finishing units (with finishing capacity of 1,150 million square meters per year), nearly 1,000 ginneries, 300 oil expellers, and 15,000 to 20,000 indigenous, small scale oil expellers (kohlus). It is by any measure Pakistan’s most important economic sector. Not surprisingly, government policy has generally been used to maintain a stable and often relatively low domestic price of cotton, especially since 1986-87 through the imposition of export duties, in order to support domestic industry.
 
COTTON is an important cash crop and lifeline of textile industry. It accounts for 8.2 per cent of the value-added in the agriculture sector and about two per cent to GDP, adds over $2.8 billion to the national economy.Millions of farmers are directly associated with cultivation and harvesting of cotton crop and sale of lint. Many others are indirectly linked with cotton value chain. Thus, livelihood of millions of farmers and of those employed along the entire cotton value chain is dependent on this single crop.The government has an ambitious plan to expand textile industry by the year 2008. This will make room for incremental three million bales. To meet that demand, the country needs to boost its cotton production.
Cotton is an oil crop, though grown mainly for its fiber. The fiber consists of long, fine, flattened and convoluted hairs called ‘lint’, which can be detached easily from the seed. The value and quality of the cotton variety depends on the fineness of the fiber as well as its length. The longer and finer the staple the better its quality, since it can be used to produce thinner and lighter textiles without knots or uneven surfaces. A single fiber is a little less in diameter than a human hair, and is measured in micronaires. Five different staple lengths are distinguished: short (less than 21 mm), medium (21-25 mm), medium long (26-28 mm), long (28-34 mm), and extra long (more than 35 mm). The majority of the world production (about 60 per cent) consists of medium long staple. Medium staple is around 18 per cent, and short staple a mere 3 per cent, produced almost exclusively in South Asia. Longer staple lengths (long and extra long), comprise around 18 per cent of the world production of cotton (during 1977-78 to 1981-82), and can only be grown in more or less ideal conditions regarding soil, water, temperature, and light.13 Slightly more than half of the increase in total output is accounted for by yield expansion. Yield trends can be divided into five different phases.