20 Per Cent Cotton Sowing Completed

About 20 per cent of sowing for this years new cotton crop has been completed but a steady drizzle for days in Punjab during the last fortnight has delayed the sowing in the northern state, according to cotton industry sources.

Sowing for the new cotton crop had begun in right earnest in north and irrigated zones of central India and a majority of the crop sown has been the Bengal deshi variety, the sources said.

Tthe East India Cotton Assoc- iation (EICA) said rain during the last fortnight in Punjab delayed the wheat harvest and as a consequence cotton sowing has been delayed by 10 to 15 days.

 

The sowing is now expected to extend to the second week of June. In comparison, the sowing last year had been completed during the optimum period in May, the association said. The association, in its latest newsletter, said the area under Bengal deshi cultivation was likely to increase like last year.

Industry sources said in the North, the area under cotton cultivation in Punjab was unlikely to increase, while there could be an increase in the cultivation area in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Referring to water availability for irrigation, EICA said the availability of canal water for irrigation was quite adequate in the North as compared to 1996-97. EICA said the sowing in the irrigated cotton area in central India was in progress and the area of cultivation was likely to be same as last year.

The firm trend in cotton prices of late is also expected to help maintain the same area of cultivation this year.

This is against the view that the area under cultivation could decrease following poor prices during a major part of the current crop year (October 1996 - September 1997).

Sowing in unirrigated areas are expected to begin in June or July after the onset of monsoon. With monsoon expected to be normal, the area of cotton under rain-fed cultivation is also likely to remain unchanged, it said.

EICAs observations are against the recent report of International Cotton Advisory Council (ICAC), which has projected a marginal decrease in cotton cultivation this year, mainly due to poor prices during the current crop year.

ICAC has also estimated that cotton production in the next crop year would be about 155 lakh bales against the projected production of 160 lakh bales this year.

The yield per hectare of cotton has also been estimated to increase marginally in the next crop year.