Loss in Gujarat cotton crop may be higher

Farmers report sharp fall in production as rain hits crop.

Ruined to the roots:A farmer points to the damage caused to the roots by rains at Kotada village in Gujarat's Porbandar district. Many such farms have been damaged in the Saurashtra region due to the unseasonal rains that lashed these parts in early November. —

M.R. Subramani

Recently in Porbandar

Mr Parbatbhai Khemabhai Varu of Kotada village in Gujarat's Porbandar district went in for cotton on two acres of land as he has been doing in the last few years. But rain, post-Diwali, has dashed his hopes of good returns despite rise in cotton prices this year.

“I should get at least three tonnes on an acre but I don't think I will get even 600 kg,” he says, as he tends to his cotton field that has been affected badly.

The main problem growers such as Mr Varu have faced this year is that rain has played truant during the first and second flowering stage of the plant. There are three flowering stages in cotton and each flowering results in cotton boll being developed and harvested.

“I am not expecting anything big from the third flowering as the plant has been affected,” he says, pulling out a plant to show the damage to the roots. The rain followed by onset of winter has affected the roots, resulting in growth becoming dormant in the plant.

Mr Shyamjibhai Raiyani, a pesticide distributor-cum-farmer who owns lands some 30 km from Rajkot, says the rain has resulted in the uprooting of at least 10 per cent of cotton plants. “Cotton farmers are plucking out the plant and going in for chana (gram),” he says. Mr Anilbhai B. Patel of Dhoraji village says he should have got at least 1,800 kg an acre but he was getting hardly 1,500 kg this year. The cotton trade has projected a 10 per cent drop in production against initial estimates but a drive from Porbandar to Rajkot gives an indication that the loss could be more than what is being feared. At least 70 lakh bales are produced in the seven districts of the Saurashtra region.

The Cotton Advisory Board, which has representatives of farmers, trade, industry and Government, has pegged production this year at 325.48 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) against 295 lakh bales last year. Gujarat is projected to produce 106.82 lakh bales (98 lakh bales) of this. Arrivals of raw cotton in Gujarat market from October 1 are 2.24 lakh tonnes against 9.02 lakh tonnes during the same period a year ago.

There are two reasons for drawing conclusions of shortfall. One is farmers reporting drop in yield and the second is, as people such as Raiyani say, plants being uprooted.

However, traders such as Mr Jaisukhbhai Patel at Gondal say that the quality could be better in the third flowering that will result in arrivals from January.

Says a trade source: “We think the area planted in Gujarat is up by 2.5 per cent from last year. And we think yield is much improved due to good monsoon in July and August and we do not think losses due to the rains in November will be as much as some people report. Rains impact the quality of the cotton more than the quantity.”

However, exporters such as M.P. Patel say the production could be some 10 per cent lower than initial estimates of 350 lakh bales.

Mr Anand Popat, vice-president of the Saurashtra Ginners Association, says only in places where the rain was accompanied by heavy wind has the plant fallen. “Otherwise, water has seeped into the cotton flower and it could affect the quality,” he says.

Mr Narendrabhai N. Limbasaya, a farmer from near Rajkot, says there is at least 30 per cent drop in yield on his farm. “The production drop could be much higher than what the trade is projecting,” he says.