Lesser sowing of cotton in the current kharif season has given a cause of concern on whether the government can meet its target of increasing textile export and whether the Indian readymade garment (RMG) exports will be able to get additional orders in view of the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh.
The sowing of cotton has reduced to 11.24 million hectares as on 13 September, from 12.36 million hectares during the same period last year, according to the agriculture ministry data. This decline further intensifies the problem that India is already facing in terms of cotton production.
Over the recent past, production has been declining and this year’s lower sowing levels will result in a decline in the production of cotton bale. There is some optimism that the sowing area could increase slightly to 11.6 million hectares from the current 11.2 million, and additional 200000 hectares in Tamil Nadu during summer sowing and additional 100000 hectares in western Telangana and Karnataka during summer season. However, whether this will increase the production by a large margin is yet to be seen.
