Maharashtra: Wardha farmer harvests 24 quintals of cotton per acre through HDPS
2025-01-23 11:28:22
Maharashtra: Using HDPS, a Wardha farmer harvests 24 quintals of cotton per acre.
Nagpur: Dilip Pohane, a farmer from Hinganghat in Wardha district, harvested a record-breaking crop of 24 quintals of raw cotton per acre in his fields using the High Density Planting System (HDPS). The central government is pushing for the adoption of HDPS to increase cotton production in line with international standards.
Currently, countries like the US produce more than 2,000 kg of lint per hectare, while India's ratio is less than 400 kg per hectare. The close-spacing method of growing more crops in less space has already been adopted by 1,500 farmers in Akola and farmers in Wardha and Nagpur are also adopting it. More than 550 cotton farmers from Nagpur and Wardha districts participated in the project and recorded a three-fold increase in the production of the cash crop in 2023-24.
After huge support from more farmers, the central government is planning to bring 50,000 hectares under HDPS in Akola alone. Pohane was felicitated by CITI-CIDRA during a review of the HDPS project in the city on Wednesday. CITI-CIDRA (Confederation of Indian Textile Industry-Cotton Development and Research Association) is the implementing agency through ICAR-Central Cotton Research Institute. The textiles ministry implemented a pilot project for HDPS through CITI-CIDRA, giving a subsidy of Rs 16,000 per hectare on seeds besides assistance in sowing using machines in 3x1 rows. So far, farmers were getting an average of 12-15 quintals of cotton under the pilot. Cotton experts said 24 quintals broke the record. Farmers get about 6-7 quintals of cotton when they use traditional planting methods.
