India's non-Bt cotton area below 10 lakh ha for 4th consecutive year

For the current sowing season, the area under cotton cultivation has increased to 124.55 lakh ha from 116.91 lakh ha in the previous season, according to the ministry’s sowing report. The area under non-Bt cotton is slightly up at 8.50 lakh ha this season (2022-23) compared to last year’s 7.93 lakh ha. Non-Bt cotton was sown on 7.54 lakh ha in 2020-21 and 8.10 lakh ha in 2019-20. The conventional cotton farming area last breached the 10-lakh ha mark in 2018-19 when the acreage was 14.50 lakh ha. The area was 12.92 lakh ha in 2017-18 for non-Bt cotton.

According to the ministry figures, only three states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha- could achieve an area of over 2 lakh ha each for non-Bt cotton in this season. The acreage registered is 2.54 lakh ha in Gujarat, 2.10 lakh ha in Maharashtra and 2.16 lakh ha in Odisha. Madhya Pradesh is the fourth largest non-Bt cotton sowing state with an acreage of 0.60 lakh ha.

According to traders, the desi variety of cotton is good only for surgical use because of its shorter length of 16-18 mm. On the other hand, Bt cotton of medium staple has a length of 28 mm. So, non-Bt cotton fetches a lower price compared to Bt cotton.

According to market sources, non-Bt cotton fetches 30-35 per cent lower price than Bt cotton which discourages farmers to sow non-Bt cotton. Traders said that desi cotton is currently traded at ₹6,000-6,200 per maund of 37.2 kg in Punjab, while Bt cotton is ruling at ₹9,000-9,100 per maund.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)