The Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) headed by the Textile Commissioner in its first estimate released this week, forecasts cotton yield will 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 years. During the crop year 2016-17, the yield was reported at 459.2 kg per ha. With this, the 2018-19 cotton season is set to become the second slowest year in nearly a decade.
The CAB estimates India’s cotton output at 36.1 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) for 2018-19 compared with 37 million bales in the previous year. The statistics collated by the CAB showed Maharashtra as the least yielding cotton producing state in the India with an average productivity (yield) of 334.3 kg per ha this year compared to 343.48 kg last year.
To capitalise on benefits, such as procurement at minimum support price (MSP), offered by the government, farmers had brought additional area under this natural fibre last kharif sowing season. As a result, total acreage under the crop rose to 12.24 million ha from 10.83 million ha in 2016-17. However, uneven distribution of monsoon rainfall in Gujarat — deficient in cotton growing belts and surplus elsewhere — coupled with drought in major cotton cultivating areas in Maharashtra such as Marathwada, is set to pull down India’s average yield this year.
