As Rain damage to unginned cotton has led to a price drop below MSP in North Indian mandis, causing farmers to lose Rs 500-2,200 per quintal.
Nearly 6,000 bales of unginned cotton from the first picking of this season (2025–26), along with some old stock held by farmers, have arrived in various cotton mandis across North India, including Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan, in recent days. These three states account for the bulk of the region’s cotton cultivation.
Unginned cotton, also known as narma, is cotton which is not separated from its seed.However, the initial rates have come as a shock to farmers, ranging between Rs 5,500 and Rs 7,200 per quintal — nearly Rs 500 to Rs 2,200 below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in several mandis.
For this season, the government has fixed the MSP at Rs 7,710 per quintal for medium staple cotton and Rs 8,110 for long staple cotton. In most of the northern cotton belt — Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan — medium staple is the primary crop, while medium-long staple is also grown in some parts, with an MSP of Rs 7,860 per quintal.
Vinod Gupta, a commission agent based in Fazilka mandi, said cotton began arriving last week, but the pace is slow as incessant rain delayed the picking and damaged the crop. “Farmers were ready for the first picking by the last week of August, but heavy rain ruined it. Prices are nowhere near MSP. In Fazilka, farmers are getting only Rs 6,600 per quintal, which is a big setback,” he said.
Bhagwan Bansal, president of the Punjab Ginners’ Association and the owner of SS Cotgin Pvt Ltd in Bathinda, said arrivals in Haryana and Rajasthan are very limited and nominal in Punjab. “Rates are quite below MSP because the crop has heavy moisture due to rains when the first picking was ready. At the moment, both quality and prices are down. If the weather remains good, rates and quality may improve in the second and third pickings in the coming weeks,” he said.
Farmers in Haryana reported that waterlogging damaged crops in Hisar and adjoining areas, while similar damage was seen in Punjab’s Fazilka.
According to Sushil Mittal, president of the Haryana Ginners Association and owner of Aditya Agro in Sirsa, rates are hovering between Rs 5,500 and Rs 7,100 per quintal, while the MSP in northern states is Rs 7,860 this year.
“Farmers who picked before the rain are getting Rs 7,000–7,200 per quintal, but those who picked after the rain are not getting more than Rs 5,500–6,000 because of the damaged quality of the crop. Huge waterlogging in Hisar damaged crops badly. Experts now predict that only 6 lakh bales (170 kg each) of lint, separated from cotton seed, will arrive in Haryana this year, compared to 28–30 lakh bales just a few years back. Climate change, untimely rain, and pest attacks are reducing cotton acreage every year,” he said.
Mittal added that his ginning unit has the capacity to produce 60,000 bales, but last year it could manage only 18,000, and this year the output will fall further. “The decline in area and rain damage has further squeezed the ginning and spinning industry,” he said.
Northern cotton belt shrinks further
Despite a small rebound in Punjab, cotton sowing in Haryana and Rajasthan has remained sluggish this season. Erratic weather, water shortages during sowing, waterlogging during picking, and persistent pink bollworm attacks have discouraged farmers from planting cotton, once a major alternative to paddy.
Punjab has covered 1.13 lakh hectares, Haryana 3.80 lakh hectares, and Rajasthan 5.17 lakh hectares — totalling 10.10 lakh hectares. This is 2.35 lakh hectares less than last year (2024–25) and nearly 7.9 lakh hectares short of the 2023–24 level of 17.96 lakh hectares.
Punjab, which saw its area collapse to below 1 lakh hectares in 2023–24 from 2.14 lakh hectares in 2022–23, has recorded a 15 per cent increase this year. Officials, however, call it only a partial recovery compared to the early 2000s when over 8 lakh hectares were under cotton. Farmers now prefer paddy due to pest attacks and groundwater depletion in the cotton belt.
In Haryana, sowing is far behind the 4.76 lakh hectares reported last year and 5.78 lakh hectares in 2022–23. Rajasthan too has seen sharp shrinkage — from 10.04 lakh hectares in 2023–24 to 6.62 lakh hectares last year.
read more:- Cotton and paddy in Punjab markets, prices below MSP
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