Area under cotton in North India drops by 6 lakh hectares, Punjab’s dip sharpest

Satpal Singh, 37, of the same village transitioned all 3.5 acres of his land to paddy. “Why should I keep suffering losses every year? It’s better to move to paddy as it offers a guaranteed market, unlike cotton, which gets damaged even before I can sell it,” says Satpal.

Talwinder Singh, 40, from Punjawa village in Abohar constituency of Fazilka district had sown cotton on 5 acres this time but even before he could harvest, the crop came under pink bollworm attack. “I have already ploughed my crop and on 1 acre, I am trying PR 126 variety of paddy, which takes only 125 days to mature. I will mix groundwater with canal water to irrigate the crop and if it rains well, it will be a boon,” Talwinder says.

Harpal, Satpal and Talwinder and just a few of the many farmers from across the cotton-producing Malwa region of Punjab who are complaining about pink bollworm and whitefly attacks. In fact, they represent the increasing trend in North Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan where farmers are ditching cotton for paddy. The trend is also visible in the considerable dip of area under cotton this kharif season.

As of the first week of July, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have reported a total 10.23 lakh hectares under cotton, a significant decline from last year’s 16 lakh hectares under the crop. This year, Punjab saw 97,000 hectares of cotton against the normal upto 7.58 lakh hectares in 1980s and 1990s . Similarly, from 8.35 lakh hectares last year, area under cotton in Rajasthan reduced to 4.75 lakh hectares this year. In Haryana too, the area under the crop went down from 5.75 lakh hectares to 4.50 lakh hectares in 2024.

In Fazilka, only 50,341 hectares is under cotton compared to 92,000 hectare last year. In Muktsar, only 9,830 acres is under cotton against 19,000 hectares. A similar trend has been seen in Bathinda too where only 13,000 hectares is under cotton this year compared to 28,000 hectares last year. In Mansa, the figure fell from 40,250 hectares last year to 22,502 hectares this year.

The reduction in cotton cultivation in the three North Indian states is attributed to pest attacks by Pink Bollworm and Whitefly, and issues with tubewell water availability in Malwa belt.

While the pink bollworm is a pest (a species of moth) that starts chewing through the cotton lint and feeds on the seeds, whiteflies (a different species of moth) are usually found on the undersides of the leaves and feed on the sap. Also, with availability of water in Punjab, farmers are shifting to paddy which not only has an assured market but is also largely free from pest attacks.

Bhagirath Choudhary, founder director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), attributes this shift primarily to the Pink Bollworm infestation.

Choudhary pointed out that in Punjab, area under cotton is now below 1 lakh hectares. “Pink Bollworm was detected only towards the end of 2021. The pest is new for farmers and they are not really aware of the biology, control and other mechanisms about it. Thus instead of trying their luck, they have decided to go for paddy whose area has increased,” he says, adding that the state government has not made enough efforts to educate the farmers about the pest and its control.

Reiterating what Choudhury said, Harpinder Singh of Jhurarkhera village in Abohar added that year after year pest attacks is becoming a concern. “I have grown cotton on 5 acres this year and it is already under pest attack. Now I can’t even grow paddy because of shortage of canal water and the groundwater is unfit for drinking and irrigation purposes. We had been raising a hue and cry for more than three weeks but the Punjab government woke up late and formed a few teams to assess the damage,” he said, adding that they still get BT2 (cotton) seeds when BT3 and BT4 seed varieties have already hit the markets.

Sukhmander Singh, president of BKU Rajewal in Fazilka district, said, “The BT2 seeds are now of very poor quality and the government doesn’t make any effort to provide good quality seeds.”

Darshan Singh of the Giddranwali village in Abohar said he has ploughed 5 acre of cotton to grow the PR 126 paddy. “I will mix groundwater with canal water and at least it paddy will sell at the MSP. The Cotton Corporation of India doesn’t purchase all the cotton at MSP and we are left at the mercy of the traders.”

Ram Singh of the Bhainibagha village in Mansa has also switched to guar (cluster bean) in place of cotton as he has less water available to grow paddy.

Elaborating why the impact is huge, Choudhury said that only when the bolls burst, farmers see the destruction. “The pest or the larvae feeds on lint and seed of the cotton leading to complete crop loss for farmers. Constant monitoring using hormone traps and early detection is the only way to control the pest which requires extensive extension on part of the government machinery,” he said.

Harpal adds that of the 1200 acres where cotton was traditionally grown in his village, less than half is now dedicated to cotton.

“Earlier, obtaining permission to install agricultural tubewells was a cumbersome process that involved bureaucratic delays. Now, with the availability of canal water and personal solar-operated submersible pumps, nearly 30 farmers in our village have bypassed these challenges and are growing paddy,” he said.

Bhagwan Bansal, a cotton expert and owner of SS Cotgin Pvt Ltd, reports a severe reduction in ginning units in Punjab, from 422 in 2007 to just 40 today. This decline reflects the shrinking cotton area. Bansal attributes the problem to persistent pest attacks and insufficient farmer education on pest management. He advocates for advanced, disease-resistant seeds and plans to raise the issue with the Union Agriculture Minister to seek support for revitalising Punjab’s cotton industry.

When asked, state Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said that 128 teams have been tasked to visit cotton fields and conduct pest surveillance, besides guiding farmers on measures. “Teams inspected cotton fields of 73 villages in the Fazilka district on Monday and found three active spots of pink bollworm and eight active spots of whitefly in Khuian Sarwar block,” he said.

—With inputs from Partha Sarathi Biswas