As Punjabi farmers are expected to reduce the acreage during the kharif planting season, the area under cotton in North India is unlikely to increase from levels seen last year. Farmers in Rajasthan and Haryana, however, are likely to plant more land in the natural fiber crop as a result of early April’s unexpected rains. As of today, cotton planting in Haryana has decreased by roughly 10%. As long as planting continues through the first week of June, we anticipate having it covered, according to Ashwani Jhamb, vice president of the Indian Cotton Association Ltd.
The area in Punjab will decrease this year since some farmers are switching to paddy after last year’s bug assaults caused problems with quality and quantity. However, according to Jhamb, the April rains in Rajasthan encouraged farmers to start planting cotton. Repair work has caused the Indira Canal to be closed; it will likely reopen the following week. Farmers have benefited from early rains, he said, despite the difficulty in accessing canal water. According to IMD data, the majority of the districts in northern Rajasthan, Punjab, and parts of Haryana experienced above-average rainfall during the period between March and May this year.
Unusual rains had an adverse effect on the rabi crop harvest, but they were perceived as encouraging farmers to start planting cotton early. In general, Jhamb stated, “We anticipate an increase of about 10% in the cotton region in North India. Cotton was cultivated on roughly 2.41 lakh hectares (lh) in Punjab, 6.47 lh in Haryana, and 7.77 lh in Rajasthan between 2022 and 2023. “Despite Punjab’s efforts to increase area, it is unlikely that the overall area in the North would surpass the levels of last year.
The largest hybrid cotton seed company, Rasi Seeds Pvt, chairman M Ramasami, stated that farmers who were affected by pest infestations last year have not stepped forward to enhance acreages. In Rajasthan and Haryana, there will be a growth of 2 to 3 percent, he predicted. In North India, Rasi anticipates selling 50 lakh packets of cotton seeds, the same amount as the previous year.Similar to last year, between 75 and 80 lakh packets of hybrid cotton seeds are expected to be sold in the North.
Except for Punjab and a few locations in Haryana, particularly the Jind district, Satyendar Singh, CEO of Crystal Crop Protection Ltd.’s seed division, stated that this year, cotton is enjoying a favorable feeling.
The region may grow by 15% to 20% in Ganganagar district, which is good news for North Rajasthan. In Haryana, the overall area could either stay the same or grow slightly, especially in the southern region of the State. According to him, sales at his business, which offers 17 cotton hybrids for sale across the nation, were up from the previous year.
