Surge in Bt cotton cultivation as well as favourable rainfall and weather condition are likely to help Gujarat increase its average cotton yield in 2008-09. Cotton yield in Gujarat this year is estimated to rise to 797.95 kgs per hectare, which may well be higher than the record world average yield of 787 kgs per hectares in 2007-08.
Though cotton acreage in Gujarat has dipped marginally over last year, there has been substantial rise in Bt cotton cultivation in 2008-09. Out of the total cotton acreage of 24.50 lakh hectares, 68 per cent is under Bt cotton. In 2007-08, the state had seen 52 per cent Bt cotton sowing.
“Cotton yield in Gujarat may surge to 797.95 kgs per hectare in 20078-09, which stood at 742.95 kgs per hectare in 2007-08. For the first time, Gujarat cotton yield may surpass world average cotton yield,” said Arun Dalal, owner of Ahmedabad-based cotton trading firm-Arun Dalal & Co.
As per the data available with International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), world cotton yield reached a record level of 787 kg per hectare in 2007-08. The world yield is projected down by one percent to 779 kg per hectare. Globally, cotton production is likely to decline in 2008-09 following fall in output in US, China and few other countries. “Considering the present scenario, Gujarat may surpass average world cotton yield for the first time,” said Kishor Shah, president, Central Gujarat Cotton Dealers’ Association.
Gujarat is far ahead than other states in the country when it comes to cotton yield. The average cotton yield of India is likely to rise to 629.29 kgs per hectare in 2008-09, which hovered around 545.07 kgs per hectare in 2007-08, said Dalal.