According to the latest weekly Kharif sowing report released by the Union Ministry of Agriculture, the non-BT cotton area was 6.639 lakh hectares in the last season. The ministry’s sowing data indicates that the non-BT cotton sowing area is decreasing year on year, as farmers are increasingly moving away from conventional methods of cotton sowing. The area was 8.205 lakh hectares in 2019-20, which represented 6.47 per cent of the total cotton acreage of 126.657 lakh hectares in that year.

Odisha has emerged as the largest producer of non-BT cotton, with an area of 2.377 lakh hectares, slightly higher than the 2.345 lakh hectares sown last season. Interestingly, the state produces only non-BT cotton. However, the non-BT cotton sowing area has reduced drastically in Gujarat, the second-largest producing state. Gujarat’s non-BT cotton acreage dipped by 22.78 per cent, from 2.146 lakh hectares in the last season. The state's total cotton sowing area also reduced, from 26.824 lakh hectares to 23.666 lakh hectares in the current season.

In Maharashtra, non-BT cotton acreage dropped to less than half this season, with the area decreasing to 0.408 lakh hectares from 0.844 lakh hectares last season. Non-BT cotton was also sown in Madhya Pradesh (0.307 lakh hectares), Haryana (0.286 lakh hectares), and Karnataka (0.274 lakh hectares) during the current season.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)