Though the average area under cotton was the highest in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, there is no proportionate increase in productivity in the last three years.
A socio-economic study on Bt cotton commissioned by Bharat Krishak Samaj found that Tamil Nadu had seen the highest yield at 944 kg a hectare with a cotton area of 1.19 lakh ha.
Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh followed with yields of 659.33 kg/ha and 564.33 kg/ha, which have a cotton area of over 20 lakh ha.
Maharashtra, which tops in cotton acreage with 38 lakh ha, registered the lowest yield of 336 kg/ha.
The average yields showed decline mainly because of expansion of crop in marginal lands (shallow soils in rain-fed areas), erratic weather conditions and increased attacks by sucking pests, the study said.
The study tracked the performance of 1,050 farmers and 300 agricultural labourers in the cotton-growing states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.