The interested parties of cotton see the cultivation of natural fiber losing land in the center of India, the largest producing region, to competitive crops such as corn in the next Kharif season. It is considered that the area under cotton is lower on a TENH in the next season, since the decrease in yields over the years has reached the realizations.
Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI) – The Commercial Apex agency for the fiber harvest, said that a decrease in the acreal in Maharashtra and Gujarat will probably be seen. Farmers in Gujarat will change from cotton to peanuts and in Maharashtra from cotton to corn, he said.
“The main reason for change is low performance and high executions.
Moderate price
Cotton prices have remained largely moderate and in a trend below the minimum support prices levels in most of the 2024-25 season. The main reason for the moderate price was the silenced demand for rotating factories and also factors such as a bearish trend in global prices that influence local prices.
As a result or weak prices, the purchases of the Cotton Corporation of India in MSP exceeded a duration of a crore (or 170 kg each) of the season, which represents a third of the total production.
The plantation for the Kharif 2025-26 has just begun in the northern parts of the country and also in the extra basic growth belt of Karnataka.
Soy, corn takes over
Bhagirath Chaudhary, founding director of the Biotechnology Center of Southern Asia in Jodhpur, said that “the area in the northern region will increase slightly this is. While the area in Punjab will go to Downy Furthana and Rajasthan and Rajasthan, the south of India, there will be a significant decrease because the cotton area will be tasks by corn and other crown.”
Chaudary said farmers have lost confidence in cotton production. “They do not trust that cotton can be a remunerative harvest for them. Soy prices also significantly decreased this year. Most of the change will be in favor of corn, which will be the biggest winner, prices are good.”
Divya Kumar Gulati, president of Clefma de India, said the corn area can increase in the next Kharif anywhere between 5 and 10 percent. Farmers intend to increase the corn area due to the Government MSP and also due to secured sales due to the demand for ethanol, he said.
Corn is seen winning cotton area and also from soybeans in the center of India.
“In terms of the requirement of our industry, the soybeans that will move to corn will have no impact for our industry in terms of soybean performance because we do not have an alternative protein source in the form of DDG,” he added.
Ramanuj Das Boob, a supply agent in Raichur, said it is unlikely that the low cotton area will see a decrease since cotton is done a better realization than any crop. “Moreover, farmers could easily sell it in MSP. This year, due to some CAI initiative and other agencies, better performance expectations can be considered,” he said.
Posted on April 16, 2025
