The record
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- Cotton sowing in India is trailing last year by about 6%, covering 92.53 lakh hectares as of 17 July, with declines in Maharashtra and Gujarat but gains in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
- Officials and industry executives expect El Nino-driven deficient rainfall to push farmers away from water-intensive crops like soybean and towards cotton, which tolerates low rainfall, potentially narrowing the acreage gap.
- Cotton is the dominant raw material for India's textile industry, and a normal crop would help stabilize textile prices and reduce reliance on imports, which have already risen sharply.
- Some industry voices caution that El Nino is a global phenomenon and could still disrupt worldwide cotton supplies, raising raw material costs.
What to watch next
- Weekly sowing data to see if the acreage gap narrows as the season progresses
- Monsoon rainfall distribution in key cotton states like Maharashtra and Gujarat
- Global El Nino impact on cotton production in other major producing countries and any government corrective measures
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Named India · Andhra Pradesh · El Nino · Gujarat · Maharashtra · Telangana · Cotton Corporation of India · Ganesh Nanote · Ishvar Bhai Chavda · L.K. Gupta · Ministry of Agriculture · Ministry of Textiles · Raja M. Shanmugam
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