Pests eat into cotton profits

India’s cotton exports are expected to take a hit because of attacks by pests in major cotton-growing districts in the country.

Cotton crops in Maharashtra in particular, where much of the country’s cotton is grown, have been attacked by pink bollworms which eat the crop. Estimates suggest that close to half of the crop has been affected by the pest. Cotton crops have also been hit by the bollworm in the states of Gujarat and Telangana.

Cotton exporters say they are anticipating a significant impact on outflows abroad.

“This year exportable surplus will be around six million bales,” Nayan Mirani, a partner at Khimji Visram and Sons, an Indian cotton exporter, told Reuters. “Production estimates are revised down due to the pest attack.”

The news agency reported industry officials had earlier pegged estimates for exports at 7.5 million bales, weighing 150kg each.

The Times of India newspaper reported last week that almost 50 per cent of the cotton crop in Maharashtra had been attacked by the bollworm, adding that official estimates had revealed losses of 150 billion rupees (Dh8.52bn) as a result. Tens of thousands of farmers have applied to authorities for compensation because of this hit.

India is the world’s second-largest exporter of cotton after China.

Many Indian farmers have been using genetically modified seeds to grow cotton, known as Bt cotton seeds, which were approved by the Indian government in 2006. Cotton grown from these seeds is supposed to be resistant to the bollworm. But farmers are reporting that crops have become resistant to the pest over the past couple of years and are increasingly being attacked.

Angel Commodities, a stockbroking firm headquartered in Mumbai, says cotton prices have been pushed higher because of the impact of the pest and that cotton futures are also set to trade higher as a result of the destruction.

India’s biggest markets for cotton exports include Bangladesh, China and Vietnam.