India to top in cotton produce

Beijing/Washington: India is all set to beat China and become the top cotton producer this year, ousting the communist nation from the number 1 position for the first time in over 30 years, the US has said in a report. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data suggests that India will produce 30 million bales of cotton in the season starting August 1, while China will produce 29.5 million bales.

The USDA increased its prediction of Indian production from 29 million bales last month, while China’s remained unchanged. The reduction is largely due to the fewer incentives farmers are getting for planting cotton in China’s eastern provinces, the report said.

The total area in China is projected to decline 11 per cent to 4.35 million hectares, with a record yield forecast at 1,477 kg per hectare. While for India, the late monsoon will likely benefit cotton; some areas originally expected to be devoted to alternative crops—with an earlier planting window—is now projected to move to cotton.

Meanwhile in Beijing, Pan Xiufen, a senior agronomist at China’s ministry of agriculture has admitted to the decline in the country’s cotton output and attributed the relatively low profitability of cotton on the government’s decision to abolish its “temporary purchasing policy” to prop up prices.