Area under cotton in Punjab, Haryana to surge by 10-15%

The area under cotton sowing in Punjab and Haryana is likely to grow by 10 to 15 per cent in the current Kharif sowing season due to higher returns fetched by cotton growers last year and an expected fall in area under paddy crop.

Punjab and Haryana, which contribute almost 12 per cent to the country's total cotton output, are expecting the area under cotton crop to grow to 5.30 lakh hectares and 6 lakh hectares respectively this year.

Last year, total area under cotton in Punjab and Haryana stood at 4.90 lakh hectares and 5.19 lakh hectares respectively, according to senior officials of the agriculture departments of both states. The cotton sowing period in Punjab and Haryana is April and May.

Punjab and Haryana are looking at cotton output of 25 lakh bales and 22.76 lakh bales this year, which would be 25 to 30 per cent higher than last year’s output.

"The major reason behind growth of area under cotton is the higher prices fetched by cotton growers last year, which even remained above the Minimum Support Price (MSP), which will encourage farmers to bring more area under this crop," spinning major Vardhman Textiles Corporate General Manager I J Dhuria said.

According to experts, spot rates of cotton grew by 20 per cent last year, which led to higher returns for farmers.

Apart from this, another reason for the surge in area under cotton cultivation would be a shift in preference of paddy growers to cotton crop because of the huge cost of growing paddy last year due to scanty rains, experts said.

Last year, the paddy growers' cost of cultivation jumped by Rs 2,000-2,500 per acre to save their crop from drought like conditions. This year, state authorities are also laying emphasis on reducing area under paddy by shifting to other crops like cotton and maize to stop depleting the water table.

To boost area under Bt cotton, Punjab and Haryana have kept the selling rates of Bt seeds by private companies at the same price as last year. Bt 1 and Bt 2 seeds would be available at Rs 750 per packet and Rs 925 per packet respectively for farmers. 

Both states are anticipating the distribution of 44 lakh packets of Bt seeds this year, which will result in over 95 per cent of cotton growth coming from Bt seeds. The major companies which are allowed to sell Bt seeds are Rashi, Maycho, Shriram and Ankur.