"Cotton sowing is less, the area in Punjab may be less than 2 lakh hectares"
Bathinda: This is the first time in decades that the area under white gold has come down to less than 2 lakh hectares. Though the exact figures are yet to be revealed, it is estimated to come down to 1.75 lakh hectares this season. Back-to-back pest attacks, unpredictable weather patterns and non-availability of canal water for sowing have reduced cotton cultivation to almost nil in Punjab. This is the first time in decades that the area under white gold has come down to less than 2 lakh hectares. Though the exact figures are yet to be revealed, it is estimated to come down to 1.75 lakh hectares this season.
The decline started after the first major whitefly attack on the crop in September-October 2015, but eight years later, farmers' interest in this alternative to paddy seems to be waning rapidly. So much so that the area under cotton cultivation in Punjab has shrunk by a third in the last 15 years – from 5.28 lakh hectares in 2008 to 1.75 lakh by 2023.
Cotton is mainly grown in the semi-arid districts of Bathinda, Mansa, Fazilka and Muktsar. It is also grown to a lesser extent in the districts of Faridkot, Moga, Barnala and Sangrur. Compared to Punjab, cotton is grown on a much larger area in the adjoining areas of Haryana and Rajasthan.
Pest attack has also been observed in these two states but did not affect the area under crop. Gursewak Singh, a farmer from Sangat block of Bathinda district, said that after the pest attack in 2015 and again in 2021, we started losing interest in cotton crop. In 2022, we have reduced the area (under cotton cultivation) from 5-6 acres earlier to only 2 acres, and have not sown in the ongoing season, he said. An agriculture department official said crop damage due to pest attack and other issues has shaken farmers' confidence in the crop.
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