Cotton Acreage Estimate Down By 15% As Farmers Shift To Lucrative Soyabean

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Cotton Acreage Estimate Down By 15% As Farmers Shift To Lucrative Soyabean

The area under cotton acreage is likely to decrease by around 15% with farmers shifting towards soyabean in the hope of better returns and after the pink bollworm infestation in Maharashtra and Telangana that damaged the crop reducing farmer incomes.

The drop in cotton planting is likely to see a rise in soybean planting after farmers received good rates during the ongoing season and a rise in import duties, Cotton Association of India (CAI) president Atul Ganatra said. "The Kapas sowing is expected to reduce by 10-12% in Maharashtra and Telangana due to the pink bollworm attack. The area under cotton could fall to 108 lakh hectares in the 2018/19 marketing season that starts at the beginning of October, down from 122.6 lakh hectares in the current year, he estimated.

Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta said that the shift in area under cotton may not be significant. "There may not be much decline in total production as area under cotton. Other states may compensate for any decline in area in pink bollworm affected states," she said.

Pasha Patel, chairman, State Agriculture Price Commission (SAPC) pointed out that if soybean prices rose, farmers would shift to soybean.