Cotton area rises by 250,000 ha in Gujarat

As the Kharif sowing gets into its last leg amid a mixed monsoon in Gujarat, acreage under cotton has spurted by over 252,000 hectares in the state, officials said on Tuesday.

"Acreage under cotton this Kharif season has reached 2.88 million hectare so far in Gujarat, up by nearly 252,000 as compared to 2.63 million hectare in last season (2010-11)," a Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) official said, adding that the acreage can go up further by a few thousand hectares.

"The sowing of cotton got delayed somewhat this year in Gujarat by nearly 15 days. Sowing began in irrigated pockets of the state like Sabarkantha after mid-May, but has been delayed in the rainfed areas," he said.

Monsoon arrived on time in Gujarat at the beginning of June, but rains were scanty.

"Scanty rainfall in the first leg of monsoon had created a situation of deficient rains, but in the second leg beginning August, Gujarat has recorded one per cent surplus monsoon so far," a regional IMD official said.

"This year Kharif sowing in Gujarat has been completed in 7.68 million hectare of land so far. The three year average sowing in Kharif has been 8.69 lakh hectares in the state," a state agriculture department official said.

"The prospects of crops like cotton, castor and rice are good in Gujarat, while the state will have to cope up with lower production of groundnut, tur, bajra, jowar, maize and moong," the official said.

The kharif sowing usually commences in Gujarat from June and lasts till September end, state officials added.