Comments
As the kharif sowing gets into its last leg amid a mixed monsoon in Gujarat, acreage under cotton has spurted by over 2.52 lakh hectares in the state.
“Acreage under cotton this kharif season has reached 28.84 lh so far in Gujarat, up by nearly 2.52 lh compared with 26.32 lh in the last season (2010-11),” a Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) official said, adding that the acreage can go up further by a few thousand hectares.
“The sowing of cotton got delayed somewhat this year in Gujarat by nearly 15 days. Sowing began in irrigated pockets of the state like Sabarkantha after mid-May, but has been delayed in the rainfed areas,” he said.
Monsoon arrived on time in Gujarat at the beginning of June, but rains were scanty.
“Scanty rainfall in the first leg of monsoon had created a situation of deficient rains, but in the second leg beginning August, Gujarat has recorded one per cent surplus monsoon so far,” a regional IMD official said.
“This year kharif sowing in Gujarat has been completed in 76.87 lh of land so far. The three-year average sowing in kharif has been 86.99 lh in the state,” a state agriculture department official said.
“The prospects of crops like cotton, castor and rice are good in Gujarat, while the state will have to cope up with lower production of groundnut, tur, bajra, jowar, maize and moong,” the official said.
The kharif sowing commences in Gujarat from June and usually lasts till September end, state officials said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.