Cotton is important cash crop which suppplies raw material to the largest industry of the country. The plant is considered to be a genus from India; far there is mention of cotton yarn in ancient scriptures like Rigveda and Manusmriti and discovery of cotton cloths in archaeological excavations from sites belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. Even today India ranks second to the USA in area and fifth (after China, USA Russia and Pakistan) in the production of cotton.
It accounts for 20 per cent of the total area and 8.2 per cent (in 1991) of total production of cotton in the world. The crop provides 3.5 per cent of the total value of agricultural production of the country. India lost the best cotton growing area to Pakistan after partition.
Conditions of Growth
Cotton is a plant of tropical and sub-tropical areas. It requires average temperature between 2l°C and 30°C. Ample sunshine with temperature above 26°C helps in the ripening and bursting of cotton balls. Similar maritime air promotes blosoming of the plant and improves the quality of the fiber. The minimum temperature should not fall below I8°C. Frost is detrimental to the crop.
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Cotton requires moderate amount of rainfall ranging between 50 cm and 75 cm. Rainfall exceeding 85 cm damages the crop, but the paucity of moisture may be made up through irrigation. Moist weather during the ball-opening and harvesting times is harmful promoting the spread of pests and diseases. Cotton is mostly a kharif crop and is grown as a mixed crop with maize, jowar, ragi, sesamum, castor, ground nut, ambadi and vegetable.
The deep and medium black soils of the Deccan Plateau are well suited for the cultivation of cotton. But the crop is also raised in alluvial soils of the Great Plains and the red and laterite soils of the Peninsula.
The soil should be well-drained to avoid water logging. The crop also needs plenty of labour in sowing and picking operations. Cotton is a kharif crop that’s sowing begins before the onset of summer monsoon (from April to June) in north India and September-October in the peninsular region). The crop is harvested between January and May. The duration of the crop-season lasts from 6 to 8 months.
Yield
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The average per hectare yield of cotton (226 kg/ha in 1999-00) is although 2.57 times higher than that of 1950-51 (88 kg/ha), but it is still much lower in comparison to other countries of the world (cf Mexico 940 kg/ha. Greece 899 kg, former USSR 842 kg, Syria 823 kg, UAR 796 kg, Turkey 778 kg, Pakistan 797 kg, Peru 570 kg, USA 500 kg and China 450 kg/ha). Highest per hectare yield (410 kg/ha) is obtained in Punjab followed by Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra, having one-third of the total cotton growing area of the country, is characterised by the lower per hectare yield (158 kg/ha).
Varieties
In India five main varieties of cotton are grown:
(a) Superior long staple-its staple is longer than 27 mm. About one-third of the total production of the country’s cotton comes from this variety. The main varieties include Hybrid 4, 6 and 7 (Gujarat), H4 (Maharashtra), Varalaxmi (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) C-Island (Karnataka), Deviraj (Gujarat) and Suvin (Tamil Nadu) etc.
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(b) Long staple-the length of staple lies between 24.5 and 26 mm. It contributes 16% of the country’s cotton output. The principal varieties include MCU-5 (Andhra Pradesh), L-147, and Buri (Maharashtra), Varalaxmi (Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh), Hybrid-4 (Madhya Pradesh) etc.
(c) Superior medium staple-the length of staple in this variety is between 22 and 24 mm. About 37% of the country’s production of cotton comes from this variety. The main varieties in this group include American (Haryana. Punjab Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh), Gavarani 46.12,22 and AKH-4 (Maharashtra), Jaidhar(Karnataka), Khandesh Virnar, Sanjay (Gujarat), Digvijay (Gujarat), A-15 and 9 (Madhya Pradesh), Madras, Cambodia (Kerala), and LRA-5166 (Tamil Nadu) etc.
(d) Medium staple-its staple is 20 to 21.5 mm long. About 9 percent of the crop’s total production comes from this group which includes V-797. Kalagin (Gujarat), Americans (Rajasthan), Mungari (Andhra Pradesh), etc.
(e) Short staple-its staple is smaller than 19 mm. About 6 per cent of the total production comes from this group. The main varieties include Punjab- Desi (Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir), Rajasthan Desi, Amaras (Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh) etc.