Punjab expects low cotton production at 800,000 bales this season

Punjab is expecting a cotton output of around 8 lakh bales in the current Kharif season due to lower acreage and damage to the crop due to rains. The cotton output had dropped sharply to 6.45 lakh bales in the last 2021-22 season due to the pink bollworm insect attack against more than 10 lakh bales in the previous year. The current season production would be nearly 35 per cent lower than that in 2018-19. Lesser area under cotton along with damage to the crop by rains and whitefly pest attack are being seen as the main reasons behind the expected decline in the overall yield. Punjab could bring only 2.48 lakh hectares under cotton crop as against the target of 4 lakh hectares in cotton-growing areas of Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Fazilka, Sangrur, Moga and Faridkot in the Kharif sowing season. During the time of sowing which is mid of April till May, farmers in several cotton-growing areas could not get sufficient canal water for sowing of the crop as there was a breach in the Sirhi

from News https://ift.tt/rAC59MX