Coverage under cotton crop in Punjab at an all-time low

Pertinently, the agriculture department had appealed to the farmers this year to not grow summer moong as experts say that the possibility of pest attacks in cotton fields increase due to the pulse crop.

Officials had asked farmers of the cotton belt — which falls in the Malwa region and comprises eight districts (Bathinda, Fazilka, Mansa, Muktsar, Moga, Barnala, Sangrur and Faridkot) — to concentrate on cotton but even an outreach could not yield the desired result.
What data shows

A Punjab Agriculture University data shows that the state had seen 4.47 lakh hectare under cotton in 1960-61. In the decade till 1971, the figures had hovered between 4 lakh hectare and 4.59 lakh hectare area.

Between 1971 and 1981, Punjab had seen a lowest of 3.97 lakh hectare under the cotton crop. In the same decade, the state had clocked a highest coverage of 6.42 lakh hectare.

Between 1981 and 1991, the state had recorded an all-time high coverage of 7.58 lakh hectare. The lowest coverage in this decade stood at 5.57 lakh hectare.

Between 1991 and 2001, Punjab recorded a highest 7.19 lakh hectare under cotton and a lowest of 4.77 lakh hectare under the crop. From 2001 to 2011, the total area under cotton remained between 5 to 6 lakh hectare.

In the last decade, between 2011 and 2020, the state’s highest area under cotton was recorded in 2011-12 at 5.11 lakh hectare and the lowest was 2.68 lakh hectare in 2018-19.

In the current decade, the state’s area under cotton is going down every year — In 2021, it was 2.52 lakh hectare, in 2022 it was 2.48 lakh hectare and in 2023, it was 1.75 lakh hectare.

What experts say

Experts said it is a bad trend for Punjab which is struggling to divert the farmers from paddy to cotton. “Less area under cotton means more area under paddy,” said a senior officer in the agriculture department.

The agriculture department had distributed cotton seeds at a 33 per cent subsidy this year in order to increase the area under cotton cultivation.

Meanwhile, director of Punjab agriculture department Dr Gurvinder Singh said one of the main reasons for lesser area under cotton is the untimely rains.

The state had recorded 363 kg lint per hectare (1,089 kg raw cotton per hectare) last year, which was 45 per cent less than 2021. According to the PAU, Punjab has recorded 651 kg lint (1,953 kg raw cotton per hectare), 690 kg lint (2,070 kg raw cotton) and 652 kg lint (1,956 Kg raw cotton) per hectare in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.

Lint is the white fibre which is recovered from unginned raw cotton. In the ginning process, for every quintal (100 kg) of kapas (unginned cotton or raw cotton), the recovery of lint is 33-36 kg and 63-66 kg of seed.