Telangana farmers sow cotton on less area this kharif

12 Sep '16

2 min read

Compared to the previous two years, farmers in Telangana have sown cotton on a lesser area this kharif season. The decrease in cotton cultivation area is mainly due to the state government's sustained campaign on the risk of growing cotton. The government had advised farmers to sow soya bean, pulses and other crops in place of 'white gold'.

The campaign against cotton cultivation was carried out by the state government in view of India signing the WTO resolution to remove export subsidies on cotton, risky returns, and the crop being infested by pink bollworm for the first time in several districts of the state, media reports said.

Farmers in cotton growing districts like Adilabad, Warangla, Nizamabad, Khammama and Nalgonda have reported lower quality crop due to the pink bollworm effect.

In 2014, cotton was grown on 16.36 lakh ha of land, which increased to 16.78 lakh ha in 2015. In both the years, area under cotton cultivation was lower than the normal kharif season average of 17.09 lakh ha. But, for the current season, the total area under cotton has dropped drastically to 12.30 lakh ha, according to the state department of agriculture. (RKS)

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