Maharashtra's cotton crop is facing clouds of calamity
Marathwada, which is known as a cotton producing region, has not been able to sow cotton at the expected level in any district except Parbhani and Latur this year. Apart from this, adverse weather conditions are still continuing, due to which there is uncertainty about the future of cotton crop.
In three districts under Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Agriculture Division, cotton was cultivated on only 9 lakh 18 thousand 3 hectares as against the average sowing of 10 lakh 59 thousand 324 hectares. At the same time, in the five districts of Latur Agriculture Division, cotton was sown on only 4 lakh 54 thousand 806 hectares as against the average sowing of 4 lakh 85 thousand 88 hectares. Districts like Parbhani, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Beed and Nanded are considered to be the main cotton producing districts, but this time cotton sowing could not be done as expected in the rest of the districts except Parbhani. On the other hand, in districts like Latur, where soybean sowing is more, cotton acreage has more than doubled from the average.
Although Latur's area is much smaller than the traditional cotton producing districts, the increase in cultivation here is considered significant. Cotton acreage is prominent in Jalkot and Ahmedpur talukas of Latur district. Farmers said that currently the cotton crop is in the flowering and boll stage, where 10 to 12 to 30 to 40 bolls are being seen.
Persistent crises
Due to heavy rains in early September, cotton crop had to face the problem of sudden death in many places. Farmers who tried to control it got partial success. However, the danger of sudden death due to rain still remains in some areas. Apart from this, the impact of diseases like Bandsad and Lalia is also being seen on the cotton crop due to the infestation of pests, diseases and sucking insects. The problem of sudden death was seen severely in Beed, Shirur Kasar, Gevrai and Majalgaon talukas of Beed district, which has been recorded by the agriculture department. Experts said that this problem is also persisting in some parts of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Jalna districts.
