The world’s largest producer of cotton and jute, India, recorded a dip in the gross value of output (GVO) of the fibres during 2011-20.

As per the latest report by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programming Implementation, the GVO of the fibre group (raw cotton or kapas, jute and others) dipped marginally by 1 per cent from ₹ 81,900 crore in 2011-12 to about ₹81,000 crore in 2019-20 at constant prices.

Also, the share of the fibre group in the overall GVO of the crop portfolio dipped from 6.9 per cent to 5.9 per cent during the period.

MSP hike

The dip in decadal data of fibre output was in contrast to the government’s announcements of a steep hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for cotton and jute during the given period.

The MSP for cotton increased by 68 per cent from ₹3,300 per quintal (2011-12) for the long staple variety to ₹5,550 (2019-20). Similarly, the MSP for jute was hiked by 136 per cent during the period from ₹1,675 per quintal to ₹3,950.

Gujarat loses share in cotton output

Raw cotton or kapas accounted for 94.5 per cent of the output of fibre crops, followed by jute with a 5.1 per cent share and others being 0.4 per cent. The GVO of kapas was recorded at ₹77,100 crore for 2019-20 against ₹77,400 crore in 2011-12. However, the value of the output of kapas hit the lowest in 2018-19 at about ₹59,300 crore after hitting the highest levels of ₹77,900 crore in 2013-14. This indicates that towards the end of the decade, the GVO for kapas started returning to the peak levels seen during the decade.

The report noted that “the inter-se position of different States in the output of fibres has changed during 2011-12 to 2019-20. Although Gujarat - the heartland for cotton production having 25 per cent of the country’s total output - retained its numero uno position in the GVO of fibres during the period it lost a significant of its share in all India output. Gujarat’s share in overall fibre output declined from 40.3 per cent in 2011-12 to 29.3 per cent in 2019-20 with gains for Telangana (from 9.3 per cent to 16 per cent) and Rajasthan (4.5 per cent to 7.3 per cent). Among other cotton growers, who lost their share in all India cotton output, include Punjab (from 5.6 per cent to 3 per cent) and Haryana (from 7.1 per cent to 6.7 per cent).

Jute output

The GVO of jute — mostly grown in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar, besides a few North-Eastern States —declined from ₹4,200 crore in 2011-12 to the lowest level of ₹3,700 crore in 2019-20. The jute GVO hit a peak of ₹4,300 crore in 2013-14 but has been stagnant at ₹3,700 crore since 2017-18.

Jute output in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha reported a decline. Jute output in West Bengal dipped 8 per cent from ₹3,555 crore (2011-12) to ₹3,282 crore (2019-20), in Bihar from ₹477 crore to ₹207 crore and in Odisha from ₹16 crore to ₹90 lakh. States witnessing increased jute output were Meghalaya, Assam and Nagaland. The jute output in Nagaland jumped nearly 10 times to ₹11 crore, while that in Meghalaya doubled to ₹20 crore and in Assam it increased from ₹159 crore to ₹207 crore.

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