India's cotton productivity doubles in a decade

India's cotton productivity has doubled in the current decade to 502 kg/lint per hectare, Parliament was informed today.

Replying to a written query in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food K V Thomas said that the India's cotton productivity has increased from 169 kg/lint per hectare in 1980-81 to 267 kg per hectare in 1990-91.

The productivity of natural fibre in the country has further gone up from 278 kg per hectare in 2000-01 to 502 per kg in 2009-10, the minister said.

However in comparison to other countries, the productivity of cotton in India is abysmally low.

Cotton productivity in China in 2009-10 was 1,260 kg per hectare where as in the US it was 868 kg per hectare. While the average cotton productivity in the world in the last fiscal was 725 kg per hectare.

"In all other countries cotton is an irrigated crop whereas in India hardly 35-40 per cent of the cotton is irrigated. Therefore, the scope of adopting balanced nutrition are limited," the minister said while explaining the reason for low cotton yield in India.

Besides this, the relatively higher intensity of insects and pests attack are also affecting productivity.

Continuous presence of cotton in the subcontinent also makes it easy for pests, disease and other biotic stress agents which survive on the crops and causes frequent epidemics, the minister said.