Cotton output to rise 3.8%; BT cotton sowing falls

Better monsoon, absence of pest attacks to raise yield by 17.47%

Cotton output in 2016-17 is likely to rise by 3.8 per cent in from a year ago due to a sharp increase in yield following a favourable monsoon.

The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) in its meeting held on Monday estimated cotton output at 35.1 million bales of 170 kg each for the cotton year 2016-17 that started on October 1. The cotton output was 33.8 million bales in 2015-16. Area under Bt cotton has fallen from 10.68 mn hectares in 2015-16 to 8.61 mn h in 2016-17. There was an increase in the area under non-Bt cotton from 1.19 mn h in 2015-16 to 1.89 mn h in 2016-17.

Textiles Commissioner Kavita Gupta said the shift might change next year depending on various issues, including weather pattern.

The CAB meeting here was attended by representatives of the cotton and textile industries and was chaired by Gupta. “We are estimating a bumper cotton crop this year because of a better monsoon and no pest attacks,” Gupta said.

A whitefly attack hit the cotton crop in Punjab and Haryana and the pink bollworm attacked the crop in Gujarat last year.

A favourable monsoon has helped germination of cotton pods in almost the entire country. The CAB estimated a 17.47 per cent growth in yield from 483.79 kg per hectare in 2015-16 to 568.29 kg per hectare in 2016-17. The average yield in Punjab is likely to rise to 597.66 kg per hectare in 2016-17 from 376.11 kg per hectare in 2015-16.

Following advisories by the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to farmers to shift to other crops, the total area under cotton declined by 12 per cent to 10.5 million hectares in 2016-17 from 11.88 million hectares in 2015-16.

“Pakistan bought around 40 per cent of India’s cotton exports because of a crop failure there last year. This year Pakistan’s requirement will be less. With no significant increase in cotton exports to China estimated, overall shipment of cotton may decline to 5 million bales in 2016-17 from 6.9 million bales in 2015-16,” Gupta said. Despite tension with Pakistan, India’s delegation is scheduled to take part in the International Cotton Advisory Committee’s plenary session in Islamabad at the end of October.

Consumption of cotton by mills is estimated to remain unchanged at 27.5 million bales and the closing cotton stock is projected to be 4.8 million bales in 2016-17, up from 4.3 million bales in the previous year.