Cotton is a major cash crop in Pakistan and cotton products earns the largest export revenues (55%) of all the foreign exchange earnings of the to the country. Approximately 26 percent of the farmers grow cotton, ~15% of the cultivated land is dedicated cotton production. Pakistan ranks 4th in terms of area under cotton production but ranks 39th in the world in terms of average seed cotton yield. Cotton is back-bone of Pakistan’s agricultural economy as it provides raw material for the textile industry, a major source of employment (17%) with a significant contribution to the GDP (8.5%).

The decline in cotton production and yields is attributed to several factors such as poor-quality seeds, insect pressure, ineffective pest control, climate change, and lack of drought tolerant short maturity varieties etc.

The government of Pakistan is determined for revival of cotton production in the country. In addition to the government’s incentive package for revival of cotton, efforts to increase cotton average yields and profits must include a decision support system in the form of farmer’s portal wherein the cotton farmers can get information on production operations (seeding to harvesting and marketing). The goal of this portal is to provide pertinent information to farmers to make decisions regarding the following activities:

1. Decisions on seed variety selection based on matrix available on range of varieties/hybrids, seed quality, and purity including seed germination information.
2. Decisions on cost of production on regional basis depending on farming size.
3. Decisions based on crop calendar including weather forecasts, disease and pest forecasts, related inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides etc) and associated costs
4. Coops, rental equipment available in geographical regions
5. Weather forecasting and adjustments in crop management practices
6. Irrigation management guide
7. Harvest, processing, and storage
8. Real time marketing support and channeling system