The cotton yield has received a boost as 6.6 lakh bales (each weighing 140 kg) of cotton have been procured so far surpassing last year’s production figures of 6.5 lakh bales.

Last year, whitefly destroyed more than 60 per cent of the cotton crop in the Malwa belt. Despite the steep fall in the area covered under cotton production to 2.48 lakh hectares in 2016-17 from 4.5 lakh hectare in 2015-16 as growers feared a possibility of pest attack, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is expecting production of 8.75 lakh bales this year after a year of despair and heavy financial losses.

Moreover, higher prices of the “white gold” came as an icing on the cake for growers as they are getting an average of Rs 5,900 per quintal for their crop. Last year, the farmers got Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,200 per quintal after the whitefly attack.

Commissioner (agriculture) Balwinder Singh Sidhu, who has been given additional charge of director agriculture, said that the quality and yield of cotton crop has improved this year and farmers are getting lucrative prices for their produce.

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