Cotton production likely to be affected due to decrease in cotton sowing

21-Aug-2024 07:36 PM

New Delhi. Compared to last year, this time there has been a decline in the cotton sowing area in at least four to five states of the country,

which also includes important producing states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. Gujarat is the most prominent cotton producing state in the country.

According to the latest data of the Union Agriculture Ministry, in the current Kharif season, the cotton production area at the national level has come down to 111.07 lakh hectares,

which is 11.08 lakh hectares less than the sowing area of ​​122.15 lakh hectares during the same period last year. Earlier,

the cotton area was recorded at 124.27 lakh hectares in the year 2022 and 116.51 lakh hectares in the year 2021. During the last few months,

due to the soft domestic market price of cotton, there were apprehensions of decreasing interest of farmers in cotton cultivation, but hardly anyone had anticipated a huge decline of 11 lakh hectares in the area.

Cotton producers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are extremely worried due to the increasing infestation of deadly diseases and insects and therefore they have drastically reduced the area under cultivation this time.

The total area under cultivation in these three states reached only 10.23 lakh hectares whereas it was 16 lakh hectares last year.

In Gujarat also, the area fell from 26 lakh hectares to 23 lakh hectares. The area under cultivation in Maharashtra and Telangana was somewhat less. The sowing process has almost ended.