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Journalism of Courage
One man8217;s blessing is another man8217;s curse,goes the saying. But in case of Punjab,the opposite hold true. The failed cotton crop in Pakistan,China and some Indian states has come as a boon for Punjab. In China and Pakistan,floods have ruined the cotton crop and in cotton-growing states of India,the weather has wreaked havoc. Add to that,a great export scenario and rise in domestic consumption. Collectively,the factors have made sure that the prices of cotton catapult to an unprecedented high. The result: a windfall in sight for Punjab farmers.The record procurement price of cotton this season went on to exceed Rs 5,000 a quintal,a giant leap from last years prices that hovered around Rs 3,000 a quintal,bringing cheers to scores of cotton growers in the Malwa hinterland of Punjab.It has also set the stage for a tremendous increase in the area under cotton in the coming season,sowing for which will begin in April-May 2011. The record price has also caught the fancy of paddy farmers,who are planning to decrease the area under paddy and shift to cotton. Another reason is the tardy procurement of paddy this season and controversies over quality parameters. The shift from paddy to cotton is also expected to help solve another problem: the depleting water table,a lot of which is attributed to the water-guzzling paddy crop. According to Punjab Agriculture Department director BS Sidhu,the area under cotton in Punjab is likely to increase by around eight per cent from 5.11 lakh hectares in the current season to 5.5 lakh hectares in the coming season. This will be a very good development. In fact,we would love if the area under cotton goes near 7 lakh hectares,the highest-ever area under cotton recorded in Punjab in the 80s, Sidhu said. Punjab,said Sidhu,contributes nearly 11 per cent of the overall cotton yield of the country. I am going to increase the area under cotton from five acres to 15 acres in the coming season, said Jagtar Singh,a farmer of Mehma Sarja village,while listing the demerits of paddy. Not just me,but everyone else is also thinking on these lines to bring more area under cotton. The water table is depleting fast and input costs for paddy are rising steeply. The procurement woes add insult to the injury, said Jagtar,recalling how for the first time paddy was sown in Mehma Sarja in just two acres of land in 1984. He said farmers were fed up of paddy and want the old cotton days the Bathinda belt is known for. The climate and soil of area is best suited to cotton. Even if government assures a minimum support price of Rs 4,000,cotton would be the first choice of farmers in the region. Balwinder Singh of Malwala village in Bathinda district has similar feelings. For the first time,I had sown paddy on two acres this season. But I have had very bad experience. I will not make a mistake again. The coming season,it will be all cotton, he claimed.
The drawbacks
But shunning paddy and going all out for cotton wont be that easy.Labour problem is a stumbling block for Punjab farmers in embracing cotton. In contrast,there is not much problem of labour in paddy with mechanised means of sowing and harvesting paddy in place, Sidhu said.
Introduction of mechanised in cotton farming is need of the hour, echoes Jagtar Singh.
In the 90s,the American Ball Worm attack severely dented cotton prospects for years together. The white gold sprung to life once again few years back after the introduction of Bt cotton that offered resistance to the American Ball Worm.
