Industrial Cluster: Indian Cotton Farmers Complain About Rising Costs And Hit The Decline Of Planting Area

Cotton was once regarded as "white gold" by farmers in Akola, India, but now it has become a "mandatory" crop. Farmers in Maharashtra state complain about the rising cost and are worried about employment. Cotton farmers find that the profits they once made no longer exist.

Ganesh Nanote from Akola planted more than 15 acres of lint on 40 acres of land. He said that the annual increase in production costs, especially labor costs, made it almost impossible for farmers to plant this crop. But we have no other choice. Growing other crops faces their own problems. Farmers have to plant cotton, and the profit is not there.

Cotton traders across India are worried that cotton planting area will decline by 10-15% this year, because low cotton prices and lower than expected yields will force farmers to abandon cotton planting. This shift is particularly evident in northern India, where farmers have turned to rice instead of trying to grow cotton, although the minimum support price (MSP) announced by the government has been raised to 7121 rupees per public load. Bhagirath Choudhary, the founder of SABC, said that this change was mainly due to the interference of the cotton bollworm (PBW), and the Ministry of Agriculture must start to improve farmers' awareness of pest control. "

Pradeep Jain, founder of an industry association in India, said that the cotton planting area in North Maharashtra State fell by 20%. Farmers did not get the expected yield or price. Many farmers have turned to corn (2384, -12.00, -0.50%), beans, other crops. Nationwide, the decrease in the next year may be about 10%.