Cotton sowing slows down, decline continues in northern region
2025-06-26 11:29:11
As sowing season nears end, northern cotton area likely to decline further
Despite a marginal uptick in Punjab, cotton sowing remains sluggish in Haryana and Rajasthan as the 2024-25 season draws to a close. The northern cotton belt is once again witnessing a likely decline in the total area under the crop, adding to apprehensions already built up over erratic weather and pest attacks. Cotton has been sown in 1.13 lakh hectares so far in Punjab, Haryana (3.80 lakh hectares), Rajasthan (5.17 lakh hectares), covering both upland and lowland areas.
With sowing almost complete and monsoon deadlines getting tighter, agriculture officials in both states are expressing cautious optimism but admit that matching last year’s acreage is unlikely. In contrast, Punjab has slightly reversed the trend by recording a 15% rise in cotton sowing this year – at least a partial recovery from historical lows. Punjab's cotton area will drop to a little less than 1 lakh hectare in 2024-25, much lower than last year's (2023-24) 2.14 lakh hectares - a massive reduction of over 50%.
In Haryana, this year's figures are much lower than 4.76 lakh hectares in 2024-25 and 5.78 lakh hectares in 2023-24. Now, officials are hoping to reach 4 lakh hectares by the end of the season.
In Rajasthan, the crop has seen a significant decline in the last two years as it was 6.62 lakh hectares last year (2024-25) from 10.04 lakh hectares in 2023-24. The delayed sowing will continue till the end of June.
Collectively, cotton has been sown in 10.10 lakh hectares so far in the northern region, which is about 2.35 lakh hectares less than last year, when the area under the crop across the three states was 12.35 lakh hectares and about 7.86 lakh hectares less than 2023-24, when the total area under cotton across the three states was 17.96 lakh hectares.
The once thriving northern cotton belt is now losing ground fast.
Haryana blamed the slow sowing on the delay in the release of water from Punjab's Bhakra canal system in May and June, which slowed the irrigation cycle. "Cotton acreage has been less this year due to water shortage, but we still hope to achieve around 4 lakh hectares," said a senior official of the Haryana agriculture department. In Rajasthan, the sowing season started late due to hot weather, forcing many farmers to sow the crop twice or thrice, pushing back the optimum planting time, a senior Rajasthan agriculture department official said.
"We expect sowing to continue till June-end, but a full recovery of last year's acreage is unlikely," a state agriculture official said. Apart from weather and water, cotton growers in all three of these states are grappling with persistent pink bollworm infestation, which has hit yields and dented farmers' confidence. Punjab has been the worst hit, with some experts urging the state to engage entomologists and pest management scientists to mitigate the pest threat.
It is worth noting that the state used to cultivate cotton in an area of over 8 lakh hectares in the early 2000s - much less than now. Cotton production in Punjab in 2024-25 (till April 30 this year) was only 1.50 lakh bales (each of 170 kg), as against 3.65 lakh bales in 2023-24 during the same period. Production in Haryana declined to 6.98 lakh bales from 13.30 lakh bales last year. Upper Rajasthan produced 9.77 lakh bales and Lower Rajasthan 8.60 lakh bales of cotton, as against 15.47 lakh bales and 13.20 lakh bales respectively last year.
The contribution of the northern region to the total national cotton production declined to only 10% this year as against 14% last year (till April end). The main reason for this decline is the reduction in cotton growing area, especially in Punjab, which is a growing concern.
For the 2025-26 season, the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the central government is Rs 7,710 per quintal for medium staple cotton and Rs 8,110 per quintal for long staple cotton. Farmers can usually harvest eight to 12 quintals of cotton per acre, provided there is no pest attack and weather conditions are favourable. In the north, farmers mainly grow medium staple cotton. He said high transportation costs would further burden the struggling industry: "Unless the local availability of cotton improves, the survival of the industry is at serious risk. This situation can improve only if cotton acreage increases - cotton is the best alternative to water-intensive paddy crop."
