Cotton Sowing Area Plunges in Gujarat and Maharashtra
27-Aug-2025 09:31 PM
New Delhi. There has been a huge fall in cotton sowing area in the current year as compared to last year in both the top cotton producing states of the country - Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Although the area has increased in some states, the total area still lagged behind at the national level. The latest data of the Union Agriculture Ministry shows that the total production area of cotton in the current Kharif season could reach only 108.47 lakh hectares till August 22,
which is 2.92 lakh hectares less than the sowing area of 111.39 lakh hectares during the same period last year and about 21 lakh hectares less than the five-year average area of 129.50 lakh hectares. Cotton sowing has almost been completed.
The data released at the provincial level for sowing till 25th August shows that the area under cotton cultivation in Gujarat has decreased by 2.89 lakh hectares from 23.61 lakh hectares last year to 20.72 lakh hectares this time and in Maharashtra it has decreased by 2.30 lakh hectares from 40.74 lakh hectares to 38.40 lakh hectares.
BT cotton is cultivated in a total of 10 states of the country which include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Apart from this, only traditional varieties of cotton are produced in some other states including Orissa.
This time not only has there been a decline of about 3 lakh hectares in the area under cotton cultivation compared to last year, but in many areas the crop is also getting damaged due to floods, rains and the attack of insects and diseases, due to which the production and quality of cotton is likely to be affected.
The most adverse effect of the 50 percent tariff imposed in America is likely to be on the Indian textile industry. If the crisis in the textile industry continues, there will be little hope of cotton prices rising and then the central agency - Cotton Corporation of India will have to buy cotton in large quantities from the farmers.