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G. Gurumurthy

Coimbatore, May 29 The planting intention for cotton this year has once again favoured a higher acreage under Bt cotton. Of the total cotton crop area of 95.53 lakh hectares, the area under Bt cotton for the ensuing 2008-09 season is projected to go up by some two per cent to 64 lakh hectares as against 2007-08 season’s 62 lakh hectares.

Cotton output for the coming season is also anticipated to go up to anywhere between 330-350 lakh bales as against the current year’s estimated output of 315 lakh bales, market sources said.

The higher area under cotton and also the higher production projected are based on the wider enthusiasm among the farmers to switch to cotton because of the improved market prices fetched in the last two seasons, according Mr K.N. Viswanathan, Secretary of South India Cotton Association (SICA).

The increased area in Gujarat in the west and Karnataka in the south is a possibility due to expansion in the irrigation schemes which will benefit the cotton crop, he said. He said Karnataka in particular — which has tasted success in higher yield in Bunny and Brahma varieties this year — is seeking to enlarge the crop area, hoping to lift their total production from the current year’s eight lakh bales to somewhere near 10 lakh bales.

The State’s farmers who are moving away from the high-cost DCH-32 variety are expected to aggressively raise medium/long staple varieties on a large scale.

According to Mr Viswanathan, Andhra Pradesh, which has achieved significant gains in cotton production in the current year with a crop output of 46 lakh bales — 10 lakh bales more than last year — is poised to touch 50 lakh bales, thanks to the spread of Bt cotton area.

However, cotton trade sources are also of the view that with the government yet to come out with a minimum support price for cotton, the final crop area expansion will be considerably influenced by this factor.

More Stories on : Cotton | Bio-tech & Genetics

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