Agricultural productivity: Cotton, soybean productivity to increase
By 2024-08-08 10:44:54
Productivity in agriculture: productivity for cotton and soybeans will rise
Maharashtra News: Cotton and soybean are expected to produce good yields, leading the state's Kharif season this year. Agriculture department sources said that the productivity of both crops is likely to increase this year. Meanwhile, due to heavy rains in some parts of the state, water has accumulated in the fields of low-lying areas and the crops have started turning yellow and getting spoiled.
If we look at sowing of soybean in the state since 2017, the average area has been 41 lakh hectares. However, this year farmers have increased the sowing area by 10 lakh hectares to 50 lakh hectares.
The state's five-year average cotton area had become 42 lakh hectares. But in some areas, farmers switched from cotton to soybean. Due to this, cotton cultivation decreased to about 40 lakh hectares in the last season. It was estimated that the area would decrease further this year. But now it is clear that due to good rains, the area of cotton will not increase much this year, but it will not decrease either.
Soybean crop has now reached the budding, branching to flowering stage. So cotton is now in the germination and sprouting stage in Vidarbha, Marathwada. According to the agriculture department, though cotton is in good condition, farmers and ginners should be cautious of pink bollworm. Keeping the ginning area clean and removing the previous fungus can help prevent bollworm infestation.
Soybean and cotton are now facing two threats: excessive rainfall or rain at the time of harvesting. Last season, farmers had grown 66 lakh tonnes of soybean. Soybean productivity may increase from 1299 kg to 1413 kg per hectare compared to last year. If this happens, the total soybean production in the state is likely to exceed 72 lakh tonnes this year, believes the agriculture department.
This year cotton production is also expected to increase from 88 lakh bales to 92 lakh bales (170 kg per bale). Last season, farmers got an average cotton productivity of 355 kg per hectare. If the weather remains favorable till harvesting, the productivity of cotton will increase by 40 to 50 kg this year. It is estimated that this year farmers can get about 400 kg of cotton per hectare.
