BATHINDA: With the marketing season nearing its end, arrivals of raw cotton have gone up by about 8.46% till June 30 from September 1, 2019 as compared to the corresponding period last season in the three northwestern states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. As per the data gathered by the trade body the Indian Cotton Association Limited (ICAL), arrivals of 66.90 lakh bales (1 bale=170kg) of cotton were recorded in the mandis of the three states till June 30.
According to the ICAL data, arrivals of 61.68 lakh bales were recorded in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan till June 30 in 2019. The cotton marketing year follows the September-August cycle in India.
Traders and experts said the surge in cotton arrivals was due to higher area under the crop. ICAL president Mahesh Sharda said with the increase in area under the cotton, the production also increased by over 5 lakh bales in the 2019-20 as compared to the previous season.
In the 2018-19 crop year, cotton was sown over 14.45 lakh hectares in the three states whereas in 2019-20 the acreage went up to 18.28 lakh hectares.
As per the data compiled by the ICAL, 9.53 lakh bales had arrived in mandis till June 30 in Punjab. In Haryana, the cotton arrivals stood at 24.26 lakh bales while in Rajasthan 33.11 lakh bales had arrived in the mandis, totalling 66.90 lakh bales in the three states. Cotton arrivals are estimated to go up to 67.40 lakh bales as nearly 50,000 more bales are expected in the three states in days to come.
A total of nearly 350 lakh bales are expected in the country.
Cotton was sown over 3.92 lakh hectares in Punjab in 2019-20 whereas it was in 6.76 lakh hectares in Haryana and 7.60 lakh hectares in Rajasthan. Initially, the estimate of total arrivals was about 66 lakh bales. With the higher acreage, the arrivals estimates were revised to 67.5 lakh bales.
