In Punjab, to date cotton has been sown on 30,000 hectares and the federal government goals to plant the crop on 3 lakh hectares as in opposition to 2.48 lakh hectares final yr. File
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Experts predicted that this yr, there could also be a rise in the acreage for cotton plantations in the Northern States due to the current premature rain.
In Haryana, cotton, a key summer time (Kharif) crop has to date been sown in 3.5 Lakh hectares. The authorities has set a goal to sow cotton in 7 Lakh hectares this summer time. According to a knowledge launched by the federal government, final season cotton in Haryana was planted on 5.74 Lakh hectares.
In Punjab, to date cotton has been sown on 30,000 hectares and the federal government goals to plant the crop on 3 lakh hectares as in opposition to 2.48 lakh hectares final yr.
Ram Pratap Sihag, joint director with the Haryana Agriculture Department advised The Hindu, “The recent rain is a good sign as it will prevent the problem of ‘burning’ due to high temperatures. Last year, we saw a substantial loss in cotton acreage due to this burning. Rain would also help in pacing up the sowing, especially in those regions which lack irrigation facilities. We are hopeful that the area under cotton would surpass last year’s acreage as the government is discouraging sowing of water-guzzling rice and going for crop-diversification this year,” stated Mr. Sihag on Saturday.
Gurvinder Singh, director of Punjab Agriculture Department stated, “The recent spell of rain has been unusual but it’s not bad. The rain will help in increasing the soil moisture content, which eventually would benefit the crop. The groundwater usage will also be less. The overall input cost is bound to go down which would be a benefit for farmers.”
In Punjab and Haryana, Bt cotton is sown in over 95% of the full space beneath cotton cultivation, the remaining 5% of the cultivable space normally has indigenous ( desi) cotton varieties. Cotton is normally planted from mid-April to late-May in most components of Punjab and Haryana.
Rakesh Rathi, former president of India Cotton Association Limited (ICAL), stated that cotton acreage is probably going to enhance in Haryana and north Rajasthan this yr in comparability to final yr. “In Haryana and Rajasthan, farmers are likely to shift to cotton from crops like guar and pulse (moong) as cotton is expected to fetch a better price. In Punjab, we are hopeful that the cotton acreage would be close to last year’s,” he stated.
