Cyclone Phailin has doused the hopes of cotton growers in Andhra Pradesh. The cyclone, which hit Andhra Pradesh and Odisha last month, has damaged cotton crop on 6.50 lakh hectares.
This has brought down the area under cotton to 15 lakh hectares from a record projection of 22 lakh hectares.
The rain-fed Telangana region, which dominates in cotton acreage, has lost the crop in some 5 lakh hectares.
But the Cotton Association of India does not see any impact on the overall production in the country.
In its latest estimate, the association pegged the output for the current season that began on October 1 at 380.50 lakh bales (of 170 kg each). This is against last year’s crop of 356.75 lakh bales.
“With the monsoon having withdrawn finally, arrivals have begun in right earnest. Prices seed cotton ( kapas ) have dropped substantially, raising the fear of a possible price support operation, especially in Andhra Pradesh,” the association said in a statement.
Loss to farmers
The Andhra Pradesh Government has estimated the loss to cotton farmers at Rs 2,000 crore. In all, the farming community lost crops worth Rs 3,250 crore.
Overall, the State lost crops on 12.30 lakh hectares, or nearly one-sixth of the area under kharif.
This has resulted in a loss of 17 lakh tonnes of agriculture produce.
“Cotton and paddy are the worst hit. Paddy crop on 5 lakh hectares was damaged, causing a production loss of 8.17 lakh tonnes. In terms of value, the loss is put at Rs 1,110 crore. Maize crop worth Rs 70 crore on 35,000 hectares was damaged,” an official of the Ministry of Agriculture told Business Line .