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*ICE cotton gains as approaching storm clouds crop outlook**ICE cotton futures firmed on Wednesday on concerns that a weather disturbance developing in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico could hurt harvests in key regions, with crop conditions already downgraded in a weekly federal report.**Prices will be supported by the weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico that are “going to bring a lot of rain to the Georgia crop, and we don’t need anymore rain as crops are already suffering,” said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.**The U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday a system, that is currently over the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico, could form a tropical or subtropical depression as it nears the northern Gulf coast on Wednesday night or Thursday.**The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s weekly crop progress report on Tuesday showed 61% of the cotton crop was in a good-to-excellent condition in the week ending Sept. 5, down from 70% in the prior week.**The report also said 54% of Texas crop was in good-to-excellent condition last week, down from 68% in the previous week. The downgrade in the condition of Texas crops by several percentage points is another positive for prices, Brown said.**Total futures market volume rose by 4,783 to 21,638 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 36 to 273,868 contracts in the previous session.*

*Cotton and paddy crops in 3,607 acres inundated**Although rains have abated during the day in most parts of the old undivided Khammam district on Wednesday, the heavy rains that lashed Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts in the last few days led to inundation of cotton and paddy crops in little over 3,607 acres in both the districts.**As per the preliminary estimates by the Agriculture Department, crops including paddy and cotton in around 1,887 acres were damaged in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, affecting as many as 1,393 farmers. Farmers in Julurupadu, Burgampadu, Sujathanagar, Tekulapalli and Palvancha mandals bore the maximum brunt of the rain fury, sources said. In Khammam district, crops, mainly paddy and cotton, were inundated by rainwater in around 1,720 acres.**Heavy rains over the past three days caused significant damage to cotton and paddy crops besides chilli seedlings, mainly in Tirumalayapalem, Kusumanchi, Mudigonda and Madhira mandals. The extensive waterlogging in agricultural fields, some of which still remained under a sheet of water in various villages in Khammam and Sattupalli divisions, is likely to affect the crop yield. Chilli farmers in the chilli growing belt of the district are worried over their crop prospects in the current kharif season as heavy rains damaged chilli seedlings in several villages in Kusumanchi, Nelakondapalli, Khammam rural and Tirumalayapalem mandals.**As per the Kharif action plan, area sown under chilli is expected to increase to little over 56,000 acres in this Kharif season as against the last year’s acreage of around 55,000 acres in Khammam district.*

*All India Weather Forecast for September 9, 2021**Countrywide weather systems*The Low Pressure Area is over North Madhya Maharashtra and adjoining Gujarat region. A Cyclonic Circulation is persisting over Punjab and adjoining areas.*Weather movement across the country during the last 24 hours*During the last 24 hours, Monsoon was vigorous over Konkan & Goa, parts of Marathwada and South Gujarat. These areas received moderate to heavy rainfall at one or two places. Light to moderate rain occurred at isolated places over South Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, parts of Telangana, Coastal Karnataka, North Kerala, North Odisha, Gangetic West Bengal, North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim. Light to moderate in some parts of Northeast India, parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, remaining parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Interior Odisha, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Saurashtra & Kutch, East Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana rained out. and Delhi. Light rain occurred over Interior Karnataka, parts of Tamil Nadu, South Kerala, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.*Possible weather activity during next 24 hours*During the next 24 hours, moderate to heavy rain is likely over Gujarat.Light to moderate rain with isolated heavy rain is likely over parts of Konkan and Goa, parts of Southeast Rajasthan, Gangetic West Bengal, North Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Light to moderate rain may occur over Interior Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Northeast India, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Coastal Karnataka. Light rain is possible over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Interior Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep and East Rajasthan.

The rupee declined by 18 paise to close at Rs 73.60 against the dollar this evening.Sensex fell further, closed down by 29 pointsToday the stock market closed with a fall. Today, where the Sensex closed at a level of 58250.26 points, down by about 29.22 points. On the other hand, Nifty closed at 17353.50 points down by 8.60 points.  

Government has approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles. With this, India is poised to regain its dominance in Global Textiles TradeLeveraging Economies of Scale, the scheme will help Indian companies to emerge as Global ChampionsHelp create additional employment of over 7.5 lakh people directly and several lakhs more for supporting activitiesScheme will also pave the way for participation of women in large numbersIncentives worth Rs. 10,683 crore will be provided to industry over five yearsIt is expected that this scheme will result in fresh investment of above Rs 19,000 crore and additional production turnover of over Rs.3 lakh crore in five yearsHigher priority for investment in Aspirational Districts & Tier 3/4 townsScheme will positively impact especially States like Gujarat, UP, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, AP, Telangana, Odisha etc.

Rupee depreciates against dollar, loses 5 paiseRupee opened with weakness today against the dollar in the foreign exchange market. Today the rupee opened with a weakness of 5 paise at Rs 73.47 against the dollar. At the same time, on Tuesday, the rupee closed at Rs 73.42 with a weakness of 31 paise against the dollar.Sensex falls, breaks 25 points openToday the stock market opened with a fall. Today the BSE Sensex fell by about 24.88 points and opened at the level of 58254.60 points. On the other hand, the Nifty of NSE opened at a level of 17348.80 points down by 13.30 points.  

Pakistan Shortage of cotton, yarn: PYMA seeks duty-free import from Turkey, India, UzbekistanPakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA), has appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan to take steps to reduce the cost of production of value-added textile industry, in view of the shortage of cotton, its yarn and the skyrocketing prices and allow duty-free import of cotton and yarn from Turkey, India and Uzbekistan through land routes so that exporters can compete in the ongoing price race in international markets.Hanif Lakhany, Vice President, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) and Senior Vice Chairman PYMA, Farhan Ashrafi, Vice Chairman PYMA and convener FPCCI’s central standing committee on yarn trading said that the value-added sector in the country is facing immense difficulties due to shortage and prices of cotton and cotton yarn reaching record levels as cotton yarn is not available to these export industries even at high prices as per the production demand.PYMA office-bearers said the exporters in the value-added sector are reluctant to accept new orders due to difficulties in procuring basic raw materials. Due to which these orders can be transferred to other countries.

All India Weather Forecast for September 8, 2021Countrywide weather systemsA Deep Low Pressure Area is persisting over Vidarbha and adjoining region, it is expected to move in a west-northwest direction. The Monsoon Trough is passing through Bikaner, Bhopal and passing through a deep low pressure area and then moving east southeast towards West Central Bay of Bengal.Weather movement across the country during the last 24 hoursDuring the last 24 hours, Monsoon was vigorous over parts of Telangana, Vidarbha and Marathwada. These areas received moderate to heavy rain with one or two very heavy showers. Light to moderate rain with isolated heavy falls occurred at isolated places over Assam, West Bengal, Coastal Odisha, Coastal Karnataka and North West Uttar Pradesh. Light to moderate rain occurred at one or two places over North Coastal Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Rayalaseema and parts of Jharkhand. Moderate rain at one or two places was observed over parts of Interior Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, parts of Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, South-West Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and rest of Northeast India. Light rain occurred over remaining parts of Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Kutch, Bihar, Interior Karnataka and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Possible weather activity during next 24 hoursDuring the next 24 hours, moderate to heavy rains are likely over parts of Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan & Goa, South Gujarat and Coastal Karnataka. Light to moderate rain is very likely at isolated places over parts of West Bengal, parts of Odisha, South Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim, parts of Assam and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Light to moderate rain may occur over parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Interior Odisha, rest of Madhya Pradesh, South Rajasthan, Western Himalayas, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, rest of Northeast India, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Interior Karnataka. Light rain is possible over remaining parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Lakshadweep.

The rupee declined by 31 paise to close at Rs 73.42 against the dollar this evening.Sensex declines, Sensex closed after losing 17 pointsToday the stock market closed with a fall. Today, where the Sensex closed at a level of 58279.48, down by about 17.43 points. On the other hand, Nifty closed at the level of 17362.10 points down by 15.70 points. 

Rupee depreciates against dollar, loses 3 paiseRupee opened with weakness today against the dollar in the foreign exchange market. Today the rupee opened with a weakness of 3 paise at Rs 73.14 against the dollar. At the same time, on Monday, the rupee closed at Rs 73.11 with a weakness of 9 paise against the dollar.The market has started with a slight uptrend today.At present, the Nifty is seen around 17390 with a gain of 12 points or 0.07 percent. At the same time, the Sensex has slipped into the red mark after opening in the green mark. It is seen at the level of 58,202.41 with a fall of 94 points or 0.16%.

Cotton growers, agri dept on toes as pink bollworm pest spreads tentacles in south PunjabCotton growers in south Punjab are a worried lot these days as pink bollworm infestation has been reported in more areas ahead of the main harvesting period of the kharif crop starting next week.According to the state agriculture department, all 14 blocks of Bathinda and Mansa, the two biggest cotton-producing districts of Punjab, have reported the pest attack. A total of 3.25 lakh hectares is under cotton cultivation in Punjab. Nearly 5% of the area under the crop in Bathinda (96,000 hectares) and Mansa (65,000 hectares) is under the pest attack.Agriculture officials said presently there is no serious threat to cotton production. The maiden picking of the three-picking cycle of cotton is expected to begin after September 15 whereas farmers have started harvesting in the early-sown fields.BT cotton is resistant to American bollworm, but experts say it is susceptible to the pink bollworm as has been seen in Maharashtra, Gujarat and now in Punjab for the second consecutive year.Sources said last year, traces of pink bollworm were found in few pockets of 20 villages in Bathinda and Mansa but in the last few weeks, the pest’s presence is felt in the larger area of the cotton belt.Experts and the agriculture department blame oil mills, cotton ginning units and a section of villagers for ignoring the laid-down protocol to avoid the pest.“Our teams have started holding awareness and field inspection camps and the task in both districts would be completed by Saturday. At present, the economic threshold level of the pest is within permissible limits,” said Singh, who also is in charge of Mansa.Economic threshold level is pest density at which control measures should be applied to prevent increasing pest population.Agriculture development officer Ajaypal Brar said the permissible limit is five adults per cotton ball or flower and the initial inputs suggest in the most area the infestation is not critical.“The next 15-20 days are crucial to containing the infestation. Farmers have been advised for regular inspection of fields and go for spray only if the pest infestation is beyond ETL,” said Brar.Sharanjit Singh, a progressive farmer from Mansa’s Mann Khera village, said cotton growers were hoping for a remunerative season due to high prices being offered by traders but the pest attack in the region is a cause of concern.“Farmers should have completely removed cotton straw, which is used as firewood or consumed to energise brick kilns completely from the fields. Now, the use of additional sprays of pesticides means an avoidable increase in the cost of production,” he added.