In its official estimates for cotton crop and sowing, the Textile Ministry’s Committee on Cotton Production and Consumption has projected India’s cotton production of 357 lakh bales (each of 170 kg) for the year 2019-20, with a rise of about 2 per cent in the yield at 453.82 kg per hectare as against 444.74 kg last year.

The newly constituted Committee, formed after the abolition of the Cotton Advisory Body (CAB) vide resolution no. 1/23/2014-cotton dated August 3, 2020, officially projected India’s closing stock for 2019-20 at 105.44 lakh bales following sharp dip in mills’ and small scale industries’ consumption.

The Ministry of Textiles had abolished CAB in consonance with the Government of India’s vision of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’.

The Committee, that met on September 14, reported a sharp jump in cotton yield in Maharashtra with over 11 per cent rise at 337.6 kg per ha, as against 304.29 kg per ha last year. While the yield has declined in North India by about 14 per cent on average over the last year, the same has increased in southern India with an average about 15 per cent jump over last year.

Trade sources revealed that going by the official data released by the Textile Ministry, India’s cotton cultivation for 2019-20 was recorded at 133.73 lakh hectares.

“So the current year’s estimated kharif cotton sowing of about 129.5 lakh hectares is lower by about 3 per cent on year-on-year comparison. This is in contrast to the trade’s estimation of higher sowing happening this year,” a cotton trade source informed, indicating that the crop size may be lower than anticipated.

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