Extended monsoon in Guj delays Cotton arrivals

Longer monsoon this season in cotton cultivation regions of Gujarat has caused a delay in arrival of cotton crop by about a month. Industry experts anticipate the fresh arrival of kharif crop to start only by November 2011 against the normal arrival which starts from September-end or October.

Farmers in Saurashtra and North Gujarat are believed to have a stock of about 100,000 bales (a bale = 170 kg) of cotton stored with them. Experts maintained that it was due to this carryover stock that scanty arrivals have already started hitting markets. Currently the arrivals hover at around 2,000 bales per day, which is believed to be a mix of fresh crop as well as old stock. "The arrival has delayed by about a month due to continued rainfall in the cotton cultivation regions of the state. This caused a delay in flowering thereby leading to a further delay in harvest. The arrivals would get delayed by over a month and can start only by November," said N M Sharma, managing director, Gujarat State Cooperative Cotton Federation (Gujcot).

"Gujarat saw heavy rains in August and mid-September after the flowering on cotton plants. This has delayed the arrivals of cotton. Currently, around 2000 bales of cotton are arriving in the market, of which new crop accounts for only 500 bales," said Arun Dalal, owner of Arun Dalal & Co, an Ahmedabad-based leading cotton trading firm.

Cotton sowing in the state has increased by over 300,000 hectares at 2.98 million hectares in the current kharif season. According to industry estimates, state's cotton production would rise by about 1-1.2 million bales in the current year. As per the estimates released by Cotton Association of India (CAI), one of the leading cotton associations in India, cotton production in Gujarat is expected to rise by around 7 per cent to 11.3 million bales in 2011-12 as against 10.5 million bales in 2010-11. The state is believed to hold about 30-33 per cent share in the country's total cotton production.

The shift from crops like pulses and groundnut cultivation to cotton has increased cotton acreage in the state. Last year, cotton farmers benefited by high price volatility in cotton, which prompted others to join the trend.

At present the prices of Shankar-6 variety of cotton are hovering around Rs 39,000 per candy. "The arrivals are expected to increase in October, which is likely to pressurise the price. A dip of Rs 3000 to Rs 4000 per candy is expected in prices of cotton as the arrivals pick up in October," he added.