Punjab

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Cotton bounty

A good yield from the first picking has given a boost to the morale of farmers
in the Malwa belt, writes S.P. Sharma

WHITE GOLD: Farmers in the Malwa belt are set to make a huge profit even though the area under cotton cultivation has declined Photo:Kulbir Beera/The Tribune SITTING PRETTY: Farmers camp at a cotton mandi in Bathinda with their high-quality yield Photo: Malkiat Singh/ The Tribune

FARMERS in the Malwa belt of Punjab are harvesting a bumper cotton crop this time although the acreage under its cultivation has declined due to the fear of mealy bug that caused huge loss to their produce last year.

The mealy bug was the topic of discussion throughout the Malwa belt during and after last year's cotton season when the farmers cursed the government for failing to come to their rescue. But this year they are hopeful of making up the loss as the crop is fetching good price in the market.

Keeping in view the high yield from the first picking, farm scientists expect that the cotton yield would be higher than last year in spite of the fact that many farmers had opted to cultivate other crops. Two more pickings have to be made by the cotton growers. This was because of good crop due to favourable weather conditions and also growing awareness among farmers against sub-standard seeds.

Moreover, Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Markfed and the Agriculture Department also put in efforts to educate the cotton growers about the ways to fight the mealy bug. The three organisations adopted villages in the Malwa belt, where they appointed scouts to keep a watch on the crop and maintain a constant contact with the farmers. A series of awareness camps were organised in the villages throughout the cotton season.

Dr Amritpal Singh, associate professor (Agronomy) at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of PAU in Bathinda, said this year right the weather had remained favourable for the cotton crop. The long spell of frost in December last and January this year had played a vital role in destroying the bug.

Dr Tehal Singh Sidhu, a retired farm management specialist of PAU, who has been engaged by Markfed in its cotton operations here, said frequent rains did not let the bug breed. Although the area under cotton cultivation has reduced by about 75 lakh hectares this season, the yield, if not more, would be at par with that of the last year.

The three blocks of the Malwa heartland — Sangat, Mour and Talwandi — witnessed reduction of 16,077 acres under cotton cultivation this time.

The farmers restricted to not more than three sprays of pesticides this season against six to seven last year that had badly upset their budget.

Cotton price is fluctuating between Rs 2,650 and Rs 3300 per quintal depending on its quality. Remunerative income to the growers has been ensured with the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) announcing Rs 2,800 as the minimum support price (MSP) per quintal against Rs 1,950 last year. During the corresponding period last year the market rate was between Rs 2,050 and Rs 2,450 per quintal.

Ashok Kapoor, an expert in cotton trade, appreciated the Centre for announcing a massive increase in the MSP that had helped farmers get a good price for their produce.

Referring to the overall 12.5 cess imposed by the Punjab Government on cotton trading, Kapoor wondered how the present Akali-BJP coalition claim itself to be a sympathiser of farmers when it had overburdened them with taxes? The cess in Punjab was the highest among the other neighbouring cotton-growing states like Haryana and Rajasthan. The ultimate loser in this scenario is the farmer.

The 2 per cent cess for infrastructure development was an irritant for the farmers. The cess in Haryana and Rajasthan was 10 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. The private factories engaged in cotton procurement were also finally shifting the tax burden to the growers.

Kapoor pointed out that as a result of the cess, the cotton growers in the areas of Punjab bordering Haryana and Rajasthan were selling their produce in those states. The Punjab Government should reduce these taxes, as higher volume of trading would generate more revenue.

PAU, Markfed and the Agriculture Department systematically chalked out a strategy to fight the bug and adopted at least three blocks each to disseminate the latest cotton production technology among the farmers so that they got higher yields of good quality seed cotton.

PAU was taking care of the Bathinda and Muktsar blocks and some villages in Faridkot and Ferozepore, while Markfed adopted the Sangat, Mour and Talwandi blocks and the Agriculture Department looked after the Rampura, Nathana and Phul blocks.

A study conducted by experts of Markfed in the Sangat, Mour and Talwandi blocks revealed that against sub-standard cotton seeds sown on 25,615 acres in the Sangat block last year, the acreage under spurious seeds this time remained only 10,434.

In the Mour block the acreage under spurious seeds substantially reduced to 7,860 this time against that of 20,890 last year. Farmers in the Talwandi block also responded positively by shunning spurious seeds that were prone to pest attacks, and the area under such seeds decreased this time to 43,409 acres against 64,007 acres last year.