Cotton yield to fall on pest attacks

The cotton crop has faced severe pest attacks in major producing states, raising fears of a sharp decline in productivity in this kharif season.

A substantial crop area has faced whitefly attack in Punjab and Haryana and the pink bollworm has attacked the crop in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

The benchmark Shankar 6 variety of cotton has jumped by 1.5 per cent over the last two weeks in spot trading to ~11,923 a quintal here on Tuesday.

Analysts are revising estimates of cotton output growth in the current season to 4-5 per cent from 10 per cent earlier. Farmers who shifted from pulses and edible oil to cotton may face a possible decline in their projected income.

"The cotton crop in Gujarat is damaged by flood. An assessment of crop damage will be taken up in the next Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) meeting scheduled next week," said Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta.

Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala on Tuesday stated in the Lok Sabha that the the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, had assessed the sporadic incidence of pink bollworm damage in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Sources said the Maharashtra government had ordered seed firms to pay compensation of ~36,83,000 to farmers in the state.

Bt cotton seeds claim to possess protection against bollworm. But, India's cotton crop has witnessed sporadic bollworm attacks in the last few years. "Pest attacks have become a regular phenomenon," said Arun Sakseria, a cotton trader and exporter.

An agriculture ministry bulletin on August 4 estimated India's cotton acreage at 11.43 million hectares, 18 per cent more than 9.65 million hectares at the same time a year ago.