Cotton acreage in Andhra Pradesh is lower this year at 21.50 lakh hectares compared with last year’s 22 lakh hectares.

The situation is contrary to earlier expectations of a lower coverage of the fibre crop. The normal area under cotton in the State is 15 lakh hectares.

AREA

The seed industry, farmers and the Government had initially expected the area under cotton to be far lower than last year.

With conducive weather in place, officials of the Agriculture Department are pegging the yield at 480 kg a hectare against the average 373 kg, a 29 per cent rise. As a result, production is likely to be 60 lakh bales, 50 per cent higher compared with the average 40 lakh bales.

The total production will be 7 per cent higher over last year’s production of 56 lakh bales. Officials had expected the crop coverage to be lower this year, keeping in mind the crash in prices last year.

The situation, however, has gradually changed as the rain-fed region of Telangana received bountiful rains, reviving the hopes of cotton growers.

"Timely rains and their spread have helped revival of the acreage of the crop,” a seen industry official told Business Line. Farmers in the Rayalaseema region doubled the area under cotton to 2 lakh hectares against the normal area of 1 lakh hectares.

It surpassed last year’s coverage of 1.92 lakh hectares.

DROP IN ACREAGE

The Andhra region, however, has seen a drop in acreage at 2.93 lakh hectares against the average 3.06 lakh hectares.

Last year, cotton was planted on a record 3.63 lakh hectares.

Telangana, which takes a lion’s share in State’s cotton acreage, planted the crop on 16.40 lakh hectares against the average 14.10 lakh hectares. It, however, fell short by one lakh hectares of acreage compared with last year.