In a move aimed at arresting the declining cotton production in India, the Union government plans to promote the shift of cotton cultivation from disease-infested fields to disease-free cultivatable and irrigated areas within Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Telangana.
Shifting of cultivation means farmers in identified disease-free districts will be encouraged to change from conventional crops to cotton and those in infected areas would be motivated to shift to other crops.
The plan could double cotton production to 30 quintal per acre. This comes in the backdrop of cotton area, production and productivity registering a declining cotton production trend of 31.6 million bales in 2023-24 from 33.6 million bales in 2022-23.
In recent years, there has been a sharp decline in ‘white gold’ production, as per textile ministry data. Annual production in 2017-18 was 37 million bales (170 kg each) that fell to 33.3 million bales next year. After growth in 2019-20 (36.5 million bales), it slipped to 35.2 million bales in 2020-21 and 31.1 million in 2021-22.
