Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nov 16 (PTI) Cotton cultivation in Maharashtra has shrunk by nearly 4.59 lakh hectares over four years as high labour costs and lack of mechanisation push farmers towards soybean, a cotton expert said.

In 2020-21, cotton was cultivated on 45.45 lakh hectares across Maharashtra, with an output of 101.05 lakh bales (each bale weighs 170 kilograms).

By 2024-25, the area dropped to 40.86 lakh hectares, and the projected production is 87.63 lakh bales, according to data from the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the Cotton Research Centre, Nanded.

Dr Arvind Pandagale, an agronomist from the Cotton Research Centre, told PTI that cotton cultivation is largely being replaced by soybean.

"Cotton has to be picked by hand. The labour cost for cotton picking is Rs 10 per kg. The selling price is not more than Rs 70 per kg. Plus, the crop needs spraying of pesticides, and the manpower required for this is a big and costly part," he said.

"The cost of growing cotton is increasing, which is why the area under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra is declining," he added.

Another problem is the difficulty in plucking cotton, Pandagale pointed out.

"Cotton plucking should be mechanised to address the labour shortage. But the machines available in India also collect leaves and other unwanted materials along with the cotton. Several industries across the country are working to develop more efficient cotton-plucking machines," he said.

In other countries, cotton is picked by machines, and their plants do not grow taller than 3.5 to 4 feet, Pandagale said.

"In India, the plants can reach up to 7 feet. We are trying to reduce the height of cotton plants with the help of research. In India, farmers use a 'straight variety' of cotton seeds. In countries like Brazil and Australia, they use hybrid seeds. The straight variety allows for plucking the cotton 2-3 times, which is not possible with hybrid seeds," he added.

Aba Kolhe, a cotton farmer from Ghosla village in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, also pointed out high labour costs and other problems.

"This year, due to heavy rain during harvest, the cotton balls lost weight. As a result, workers are not willing to pick them even if we pay Rs 20 per kg. Except in 2021-22, we haven't got a good price for the crop. So we have reduced the area of cultivation compared to 2019," he said.

Kolhe said that till 2019, he used to grow cotton on all 11 acres of his land. "Now, I grow cotton on only half of that land," he added.

Cotton imports in the country are likely to increase this year compared to the exports, as per the official data.

In 2021-22, India imported 21.13 lakh bales of cotton and exported 42.25 lakh bales.

The expected import for 2024-25 is 25 lakh bales, while the export is likely to drop to 18 lakh bales, as per statistics provided by the Committee on Cotton Production & Consumption (COCPC) under the Ministry of Textiles. PTI AW GK

Cotton cultivation is declining due to rising labour costs and limited mechanisation, prompting higher import projections. Cotton cultivation in Maharashtra declined as rising labour and input costs and limited mechanisation prompted farmers to replace cotton with soybean. Manual picking costs and pesticide labour make cotton less remunerative; available cotton-picking machines collect unwanted material and domestic varieties grow taller and allow multiple pickings, complicating mechanisation. Research targets lower plant height and variety changes to enable efficient mechanical harvesting. Projected imports exceed expected exports, reflecting the production and trade impact of these economic and technological constraints.