Gujarat cotton acreage rises to 26 lakh hectares

Amid the gloom surrounding kharif acreage this year because of low rains there is some good news, area under cotton in Gujarat the country's largest producer is tipped to swell to 25.84 lakh hectares this year against 24.22 lakh hectares last year.

According to experts, Gujarat has witnessed a change in cotton cultivation this year with conventional seeds being planted in a larger area than BT cotton seeds. And the reasons are there for all to see.

Conventional seed are more likely to be successful in rain fed regions of the state, which include parts of central and north Gujarat, where initial monsoon rains have been patchy.

Though, monsoon did pick up during the later half of July, but the damage done in the earlier months lured farmers more towards conventional cotton seeds.

According to unofficial estimates, last year out of 24.22 lakh hectares under cotton, about 7.5 to 8 lakh hectares was covered under conventional seeds, while the rest was under BT seed.

But, this year the situation indicates that the acreage under conventional seed would rise while that of BT seed would remain almost flat.

NM Sharma, Managing Director, Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation Ltd (GujCot) told FE, "As the rain was uncertain in the regions of Surendranagar and parts of north Gujarat, more and more farmers have opted for conventional cotton seed over BT seed. These include, Kalyan cotton, V-797 and GCOT 21 etc."

"This year around 8.5 to 9 lakh hectares would be covered under conventional cottonseed, which is a rise of about 20% over past year. Conversely, BT acreage, which was on the rise during past three years, would remain around 15 lakh hectares almost the same as last year," Sharma added.

On crop condition in the state, Sharma said that another spell of rain is required for healthy output.

"If it fails to rain after 10-15 days again, all the statistics will get disturbed. Currently, we are expecting the cotton production to remain around 97 lakh bales (each bale of 170 kg) in Gujarat.

However, presently we are flush with carry forward stock of about 10 lakh bales. And new arrivals are expected to start not earlier than November this year.

This will provide support to prices from falling at lower levels," he said, adding that export demand was dismal last year and would continue to be sluggish this year as well.

Last year only 5 lakh bales of cotton (1 bale=170 kilogram) was exported from Gujarat against 35 lakh bales in the previous year.