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)
Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India