Punjab expects low cotton production

New Delhi. Punjab is expecting a cotton output of around 8 lakh bales
in the current Kharif season due to lower acreage and
damage to the crop due to rains.
The cotton output had dropped sharply to 6.45 lakh bales in the last 2021-22 season due to the pink bollworm insect attack against more than 10 lakh bales in the previous
year.
The current season production would be nearly 35 per cent lower than that in 2018-19.
Lesser area under cotton along with damage to the crop by rains and whiteffy pest attack are being seen as the main reasons behind the expected decline in the overall yield.
Punjab could bring only 2.48 lakh hectares under cotton
crop as against the target of 4 lakh hectares in cottongrowing areas of Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Fazilka,
Sangrur, Moga and Faridkot in the Kharif sowing season.During the time of sowing which is mid of April till May, farmers in several cotton-growing areas could not get
suficient canal water for sowing of the crop as there was a
breach in the Sirhind feeder canal, said a senior official of
the state agriculture department.
Due to inadequate canal water supply, farmers decided to

switch to paddy crop, the offcial further said while giving reasons for the lesser area under
cultivation.
Later, heavy rains affected the crop over at least 10,000 hectares of area in Muktsar and
Fazilka, which will also impact the overall crop yield.
Moreover, several farmers in areas including Bathinda and Mansa were forced to plough
the cotton crop because of whitefly pest attack.

According to the latest estimates, the area under cotton crop has now fallen to 2.20 lakh
hectares, said the offcial. Though the department offcial said the attacks of whitefly pest
and pink bollworm have been controlled.
We are expecting cotton output of 8 lakh bales this season, said the offcial.
The area under cotton in 2009-10 in Punjab was around 5 lakh hectares but after that it
gradually started declining.
In 2018-19, the area under cotton was 2.68 lakh hectares. It dropped to 2.48 lakh hectares in
2019-20 and then it was 2.52 lakh hectares and 2.51 lakh hectares in 2020-21 and 2021-22respectively, as per data available.
Punjab had recorded cotton output of 12.23 lakh bales in 2018-19, followed by 12.06 lakh bales in 2019-20 and 10.23 lakh bales in 2020-21.
With the pink bollworm insect causing damage to the crop in 2021-22, the state’s cotton
output sharply dropped to just 6.45 lakh bales last year, as per data of the state agriculture department.PTI