Dry spell drops Indian cotton 38%
Date:07-14-2008
The latest Crop Weather Watch report from India’s Agriculture Ministry shows that growers have planted 39.17 lakh hectares (lh) under cotton this year, compared with 63.38 lh during the same period 2007. The 38% dip in area sown is due mostly to an extended dry spell during monsoon season. Acreages have dropped sharply in Maharashtra (from 26.20 to 10.51 lh), Andhra Pradesh (8.68 to 5.92 lh), Gujarat (12.50 to 8.59 lh) and Karnataka (1.57 to 1.46 lh).
“Normally, in Vidarbha, sowing is over by around July 20. By now at least 70% should have been completed, whereas it appears that only 45-50% has been covered”, said Dr K.R. Kranthi, Crop Protection Head at the Nagpur-based Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR).
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