Jalgaon: Farmers Shift To Maize As Cotton Acreage Drops 20% This Kharif Season
· Free Press Journal
Jalgaon: Jalgaon district, known for having the highest cotton cultivation in the state, has seen farmers largely turn away from cotton this Kharif season in favour of maize. Consequently, a 20% decline in cotton production is anticipated, a trend that the Ginning Mill Owners' Association believes could adversely affect the region's ginning factories.
Kharif crops are cultivated across 740,000 hectares in Jalgaon district, with cotton accounting for 550,000 hectares of this area. The district's economy relies heavily on cotton. However, due to unsatisfactory prices, farmers have shied away from cotton sowing this year; District Agriculture Superintendent Kurban Tadvi told FPJ that cotton has been sown on 418,000 hectares so far. Farmers face challenges such as rising production costs, increased labour wages, and expenses for fertilisers and spraying, alongside a shortage of labour for picking cotton. Superintendent Tadvi noted that the lack of remunerative prices for cotton is the primary reason farmers have opted against sowing it this season.
In contrast, the area under maize cultivation is expanding in the district, with sowing completed on 160,000 hectares this year. Maize entails lower production costs compared to cotton; expenses for fertilisers and spraying are reduced, and the use of mechanical threshers lowers labour costs. Additionally, the maize crop requires less water. It was noted that farmers have shown a preference for maize this year due to high demand for the crop for both animal feed and ethanol production. Superintendent Kurban Tadvi stated that, following maize, there has been a significant increase in the sowing of pulse crops like tur (pigeon pea) and moong (green gram), as well as soybean.
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Speaking to FPJ, Pradeep Jain, Founding President of the Khandesh Ginning and Pressing Factory Owners' Association, expressed concern over the reduction in the cotton cultivation area in Jalgaon district. There are over 150 ginning factories in Khandesh, which require large quantities of cotton to operate at full capacity. However, Jain noted that while there has been a 20 per cent drop in sowing, it would be premature to comment further at this stage, as the final outcome depends heavily on how the crop actually performs. Avinash Kabra, a director of the association, also endorsed this view.