Farmers in Telangana seem to have come back to cotton in a big way this kharif season. After partly shifting focus to other ‘better and safer’ options such as soya, maize and chilli in the last two years, they are going back to cotton, which is considered a safe bet.

According to the latest reports, cotton sowing has been completed on over 12 lakh hectares, constituting about 72 per cent of the average crop area of 16.76 lakh hectares. It is estimated that the area could breach the 20-lakh hectare mark when the sowing is completed.

Good rainfall

While 24 districts have reported excess rainfall so far, seven reported a normal rainfall. This has give the farmers hope of a good cotton harvest.

In the last two years, the Telangana government has been asking farmers to reduce their focus on cotton and look at cultivation of other crops due to the subdued cotton demand in international markets.

Officials of the Agriculture Department had organised a number of camps in 2015 and 2016 telling farmers why they should not cultivate cotton.

As a result, the farmers showed interest in the alternative crops. This has resulted in slight reduction in the area under cotton.

When chilli looked promising at a record price of ₹13,000 a quintal, a good number increased the area under chilli cultivation. However, excessive production and poor demand in the market resulted in a drastic fall in prices.

At one point, the price even fell to ₹1,500-2,000, triggering violent protests at the Khammam and Warangal marketyards.

With the forecast of a good monsoon and its satisfactory progress so far, farmers are now planting more cotton.

This time around the government playing safe. “We are not going to tell them (not to grow cotton) this time ,” a senior official told BusinessLine .

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW