Cotton output may fall 4.7% due to scant rainfall, pink bollworms: CAI

Cotton production in 2018-19 is likely to fall 4.7 per cent from the previous season to 34.8 million bales, as scant rainfall and an attack of pink bollworms are expected to squeeze crop yields, the head of a leading trade body told Reuters.

The drop in output could limit exports from the world’s biggest producer of the fibre amid rising demand from top consumer China and in turn support global prices, which are hovering near their lowest level in more than nine months hit last week.

“In Gujarat, we are expecting a big drop in production due to dry weather,” said Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India (CAI).

Gujarat, the country’s top cotton producing state, received 28 per cent lower rainfall than normal in the June-September monsoon season, according to the India Metrological Department.