Boost seen for cotton sowing on good realisations, normal monsoon

Production this season has been 34 mn bales, from 33 mn in previous year, though crop area was less

With the prediction of a normal monsoon, sowing and production of India’s biggest commercial crop, cotton, is expected to get a further boost in 2017, on the back of good returns enjoyed by its cultivators last year.

“How much increase in acreage there will be would depend on further clarity on the monsoon but I am sure the crop area is going to go up. Market conditions also seem favourable,” Nayan C Mirani, president of the Cotton Association of India, which represents the trade and industry across the value chain, told this newspaper.

Production in the current season has been