Maha sees decline in cotton farming

Cotton cultivation in Maharashtra has shrunk by nearly 4.59 lakh hectares over four years as high labour costs and lack of mechanisation push farmers towards soybean, a cotton expert said.

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In 2020-21, cotton was cultivated on 45.45 lakh hectares across Maharashtra, with an output of 101.05 lakh bales (each bale weighs 170 kilograms).

By 2024-25, the area dropped to 40.86 lakh hectares, and the projected production is 87.63 lakh bales, according to data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the Cotton Research Centre, Nanded.

Dr Arvind Pandagale, an agronomist from the Cotton Research Centre, told PTI that cotton cultivation is largely being replaced by soybean.

“Cotton has to be picked by hand. The labour cost for cotton picking is ₹10 per kg. The selling price is not more than ₹70 per kg. Plus, the crop needs spraying of pesticides, and the manpower required for this is a big and costly part,” he said.