Cotton crop cultivation during the current sowing season (2017-18) has witnessed about 18pc increase in Punjab as compared the sowing of same period of last year. However, it decreased by 6 percent in Sindh during the period under review, according to a top official in the Ministry of Textile Industry. During the current sowing season, cotton crop has been cultivated over 2.743m hectares in Punjab which is 18pchigher as compared the same period of last year. However, cotton sowing in the Sindh during the period under review decreased by 6 percent as the crop has been cultivated over 0.5m hectares of land, he added.