Cotton acreage expected to increase with arrival of rains

16 Jul '09

2 min read

The sowing of cotton in the new season normally begins from June onwards, but due to late arrival of rains, the cultivation in Gujarat did not take off at the normal pace. As of the first week of July, cotton crop under cultivation reached just above one million hectares against 1.81 million hectares in the previous season.

There is also fear of cotton crops being destroyed due to the delayed rains and has raised apprehensions amongst cotton traders of a shortage of cotton in the new season. Though with arrival of rains in the second week of July, more area under cotton cultivation is expected in the next few days.

Fibre2fashion spoke to Mr Arun Dalal, a well known cotton trader who said, “Due to good rainfall, cultivation of cotton crop will be good. This year 8 to 10% of more crops will be grown and secondly market will remain steady due to high dollar price and good export”.

Gujarat is the biggest cotton producing state in the country and Maharashtra stands second. By the second week of July, cotton acreage in Maharashtra stood at 2.21 million hectares or 76 percent to normal area, and is expected to touch 3 million hectares, same as that achieved in the previous cotton season.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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