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Andhra Pradesh: Cotton Update for Kharif 2014-15 |
| 20 October 2014 02:48 PM |
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Cotton Crop Status in Guntur District of AP
Aug 9, 2014
Cotton farmers in Guntur district are desperately waiting for rains to revive. Farmers started cotton sowing with the onset of recent showers but the rains stopped once again. As a result, the crop sowing has been incomplete in many parts and even the standing crop is on the verge of severe damage.
Mr. B. V. Siva Rao, a farmer from Nagulapadu village situated on Old Chennai Highway in Guntur said that cotton sowing took place hardly ten days back in that area. But, there were no rains after sowing so it is difficult to predict the condition of the crop. So far, acreage progress is 30% less than that of last year and if there are no rains till Aug 20, the acreage shortage may cross 50% in that area.
Apart from rains, the prevailing prices are also not very attractive for farmer as the expenses are high for cotton cultivation, he said. He told that farmers of Guntur district preferred to grow maize this year. The cost of maize growing is about Rs. 35,000 per acre including expense of land lease. On the other hand, the cost of cotton and chilli cultivation is about Rs. 45000-50000 and Rs. 90000-100000 per acre respectively.
In addition, cost of labour is also very high for picking of bolls. Last year it was around Rs. 8/kg and in the peak season it went up to Rs.10/kg. According to Mr. Siva Rao, the price received by the farmer was around Rs. 40/ kg and if they have to pay about one-fourth for just picking then it’s not very profitable to cultivate cotton.
Another farmer from Nagulapadu Mr. G. Sambashiva Rao told that they have no work in this sowing period due to lack of rains, water from Nagarjun Sagar dam was also not released to canals and underground water level depleted below 100 feet with high salt content. So irrigation from tube-wells is not possible.
Sambashiwa Rao also indicated that the farmers are keen to grow maize due to its higher productivity as they expect 10-12 quintals of cotton or 15-20 quintal of chilli or 30-35 quintals maize from one acre of area.
A farmer of Komur village of Guntur district Mr. G. Mirsa told that he has sown cotton in four acres of leased in land after first shower. But rains stopped subsequently and his crop is on the verge of dying due to lack of water.
The plight of Mr. Mastan Ali of komoor village and Mr. Sheikh Salam of Pedapurapadu village and many other farmers in cotton growing area of Guntur district appear to be the same with an urgent need for good rains or else complete loss of standing crop.
If there are no rains till Aug 20, then the rest of the area will be shifted to other crops like maize and coriander. Thus the rains in the next 10days are crucial for cotton cultivation in Guntur district of AP.
Sowing Progress as per State Agencies
Cotton sowing is lagging behind at 48533 hectares till July 30 this year compared to 129449 hectares in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh. On the contrary, cotton sown area has reportedly increased by 26% to 5.98 lakh hectares till July 30 from 4.75 lakh hectares of previous year’s same period for the state of Andhra Pradesh as per the data released by the government of AP.
The steep rise in acreage in AP was primarily on account of a manifold increase in cotton area in Anantpur district. The acreage increased to 262787 hectare from 14376 hectare as reported on July 30. A cotton trader from Anantpur district told that the farmers switched to cotton in an unprecedented manner due to better returns realized in the last season. Traditionally, Anantpur is a Groundnut producing district.
However, Mr. Krishna Aravapalli, the President of AP Cotton Association does not seem to be agreeing with sowing data released by the state government. He said that there was deficiency of rains and water for irrigation. Hence, he does not agree that there may be a rise in sowing area.
According to Mr. Aravapalli there are two lakh bales (170 kg in each bale) of unsold cotton stocks estimated to be in the market. New crop arrivals may be delayed and may hit the markets only in the first week of November. He suggested that it is early to expect the crop size and price trend right now and a clear picture of crop size may be known only in October.
Sharp Downward Revision of Cotton Acreage Estimates by the Govt of AP
As per the latest acreage estimates released by the government of AP, The acreage has been revised significantly downwards to about 4.79 lakh hectares as reported on Aug 6 from the earlier estimate of about 5.98 lakh hectares as on Jul 30.
Further, a drastic downward revision was noted in case of Anantpur district from about 2.62 lakh hectares reported on Jul 30 to about 51,118 hectares as reported on Aug 6.
On the contrary, cotton acreage in Guntur has reportedly gone up from about 48533 hectares as on Jul 30 to about 1.02 lakh hectares as on Aug 6.
The respective weekly reports are available at the following links
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