Cotton Association of India attributes yield loss to pink bollworm infestation, El Nino climate pattern
Photo: Vikas Choudhary / CSE
The cotton production in India for 2023-24 is projected to be the lowest in the last 15 years. The first estimates by the Cotton Association of India (CAI) showed production would be around 29.51 million bales.
A bale of cotton amounts to 170 kilogrammes.
The production estimates for the current year are significantly lower than the government estimates of 31.65 million bales announced in early October.
In 2022-23, the production was 31.89 million bales and if the predictions come true, the cotton production will register a low of 7.49 per cent.
In India, the lowest cotton production was recorded in 2008-09 with 29 million bales, according to the Cotton Advisory Board.
Read more: DTE Coverage: Pink bollworm’s cotton curse in India's North Zone
CAI has attributed the losses to reduced total area in cotton sowing, which has decreased by 5.5 per cent and a drop in yield of up to 20 per cent with unfavourable weather conditions due to El Nino and severe infestation of pink bollworm in north India.
In north India, the estimated crop volume has decreased from 6.2 million bales to 4 million bales.
CAI has projected cotton production at 8.5 million bales in Gujarat, 7.6 million bales in Maharashtra, three million bales in Telangana, 1.85 million bales in Karnataka, 1.8 million bales in Madhya Pradesh, and 1.6 million bales in Haryana during 2023-24 season, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
The Association estimated India would import 2.2 million bales of cotton and expected the availability of cotton to be around 34.6 million bales, reported news website LiveMint. The domestic demand is 31.1 million bales, consisting of 28 million bales for mills, 1.6 million bales for non-mills and 1.5 million for small-scale.
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