According to statistics from the Indian Council for International Development (NFSM), as of June 25, 2021, India’s cotton planting area in 2021/22 was 3.714 million hectares, a decrease of 3.455 million hectares compared with the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 48.2%. Among them, the three major cotton-producing areas of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana have decreased by 151,100 hectares, 81,500 hectares, 37,000 hectares, and 34,000 hectares respectively compared with the same period in 2020/21; while Although the planting area of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in the northern cotton regions of India also declined year-on-year, the decline was not significant.
Judging from the survey, the areas where India’s cotton planting area has declined so far in 2021 are concentrated in the cotton area in central India. Most of the crops in this area rely on natural precipitation, and are S-6 , BUNNY and MECH-1 are the main producing areas of medium and high-quality cotton; it is also worth noting that the central cotton area is also the “severely affected area” where the new crown epidemic broke out and went out of control in India in March 2021; while sowing in the southern cotton area is basically normal, The decrease in planting area in each state is relatively small.
The views of some private Indian cotton companies and ginners on the reasons for the sharp year-on-year decline in the cotton planting area in the central region focus on the following three points:
First, although the southwest monsoon made landfall on the coast of Kerala about 10 days earlier than in previous years in 2021/22, it has progressed slowly northwards and currently covers Kerala and Tamil Nadu and some central cotton areas. , which is not conducive to the comprehensive and large-scale expansion of cotton sowing in the central region;
Second, affected by the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic from March to June, India will not only supply BT cotton seeds in 2021/22 It is very tense, and the prices of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides have also increased significantly. Coupled with the decline in farmers’ income and insufficient capital flow, the cotton sowing period in India has been passively extended;
The third reason is due to The prices of soybeans, rice, peanuts, etc. have risen sharply since 2020. The increase in the area and output of summer soybeans in India will not only help India reduce its import of edible oil, but will also help India expand its soybean meal exports. Darwish Jain, president of the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA), said soybean prices are attractive and farmers are aware of this and may increase sowing area by 10% to 12%. Madhya Pradesh in the center and Maharashtra in the west are both major cotton-producing areas as well as oil crops such as soybeans.
Nevertheless, the industry generally believes that since the cotton planting period in India is concentrated from June to August, sowing time is relatively sufficient. Therefore, as long as the monsoon does not miss its appointment and rainfall is abundant, the actual sowing area will exist. The possibility of catching up. </p
