Cotton yield in India to hit three-year low on massive crop damage

Drought in Maharashtra and Gujarat, the chief cotton growing states, delivers a huge blow to output

Cotton yield in India is likely to decline this year to hit a three-year low due to crop damage following drought in its major growing states including Gujarat in Maharasthra, the two states jointly contributing half of India’s cotton output.

The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) headed by the Textile Commissioner under the Ministry of Textiles, in its first estimate released this week, forecasts the yield to decline to 501.47 kg per hectare (ha) for the cotton season October 2018–September 2019 from 506.07 kg the previous year. As a result, average cotton output for the season is the lowest in three