As farmers have started sowing early varieties of cotton in some areas of Indore division, the agriculture department expects cotton to cover about 5.46 lakh hectares in Indore division.
Indore Agriculture Department's Joint Director Alok Meena said, "The work of sowing cotton is going on in the division. The weather is looking favorable for cotton. Going by the initial trends, cotton is likely to be sown in about 5.46 lakh hectares this Kharif season. Farmers of Khandwa, Khargone and surrounding areas have started sowing of earlier varieties of cotton.
According to the Agriculture Department, last year in the Kharif season of 2022, farmers had sown cotton in 5.40 lakh hectares.
The per hectare productivity of cotton is also expected to increase in the kharif season, said official data.
"The estimated yield of cotton is seen at 1,803 kg per hectare as against last year's 1,480 kg per hectare," Meena said. The major kharif crops sown in Indore division are soyabean, cotton, maize and pulses.
Kailash Agarwal, a cotton farmer and owner of ginning units in Khargone, said, “Sowing of cotton has started especially in Khargone, Barwani and Khandwa pockets. The area under cotton cultivation is increasing this kharif season as farmers got good prices for their produce last year.
The average price of seed cotton in this season is around Rs 8000 per quintal, while in the last season it was Rs 6000-6200 per quintal.
