In the cotton producing districts of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, 50-70 per cent of the crop has been damaged due to the terrible outbreak of pink bollworm. At some places, there the damage is up to 90 per cent. In view of this, farmers are clamouring for compensation from the government.
Although the Haryana government has decided to give compensation of Rs 12,500 per acre to the farmers, there is no word so far from Punjab and Rajasthan. Farmers of Rajasthan have been agitating for the last two weeks demanding compensation.
In view of this, there is every possibility of cotton production decreasing this year. In Haryana, the maximum damage to the crop has occurred in Sirsa, Fatehabad and Hisar districts, which are the largest cotton producing areas and account for 70 per cent of the state's cotton production. It has its effect in other districts also. In Haryana, this is the second consecutive season when the crop has been damaged due to pink bollworm.
Pink bollworm has caused a lot of damage in Sriganganagar, Hanumagarh and Anupgarh of Rajasthan and Abohar, Fazilka, Bathinda and Mansa districts of Punjab.
Pink bollworm is a very deadly insect which eats cotton seeds and destroys the fiber of the plant. Due to this, the quality of cotton deteriorates and the yield decreases.
Paramjit Singh, a farmer from Sirsa district in Haryana, told Rural Voice that 50 per cent of his crop has been damaged. Apart from pink bollworm, rain has also caused a lot of damage to the crop. Last year also the crop was damaged due to pest attack. Paramjeet grows cotton in two acres. Learning from experience, farmers had started spraying pesticides from the beginning, which reduced their losses. Those farmers who delayed even a little, their crops were ruined. This year it seems difficult for cotton farmers to even meet their costs.
The loss is more in Punjab and Rajasthan as compared to Haryana because there was no pest attack there last year, hence the farmers there were not aware of it. For the first time, such a terrible outbreak of pink bollworm occurred in Rajasthan. By the time the farmers came to know about this and became aware, their crops had already been damaged.
New cotton crop has started arriving in the markets of Punjab. Its price is moving above the minimum support price. In Karnataka too, the new cotton crop has started arriving in the markets. Preparations for the first phase of harvesting have started in Haryana. Arrival of early crop is going to start soon in Rajasthan also. The central government has fixed the minimum support price (MSP) of long-staple cotton at Rs 7,020 per quintal and MSP of medium-staple cotton at Rs 6,620 per quintal.
This year the total area under cotton has decreased to 125 lakh hectares from 126.87 lakh hectares last year. Normally the area under cotton is 128.67 lakh hectares. Given the reduction in area and crop failure, domestic cotton production is likely to decline again this year.
Usually 10-12 quintals of raw cotton is produced in one acre but this time 2-2.5 quintals per acre crop is being produced.
According to government data, the total production of cotton in the country in 2022-23 was 343.5 lakh bales (170 kg in one bale), while the average production was 447 kg per hectare.