After suffering losses for over two years, farmers decided to reduce the area under cotton crop this year and go back to paddy. A 35-year-old farmer Harpal Singh from Burj Kalan in Mansa district is now growing cotton on only 2 acres of the total 5 acres that he owns. The frequent losses that I suffered due to pest attacks make it hard to protect the cotton crop, says Harpal.
Another farmer of the same village transitioned all 3.5 acres of his land to paddy, stating that it is better to move to paddy as it offers a guaranteed market, unlike cotton, which gets damaged even before he can sell it.
Talwinder Singh, 40, from Punjawa village in Abohar constituency of Fazilka district had sown cotton on 5 acres this time but even before he could harvest, the crop came under pink bollworm attack. “I have already ploughed my crop and on 1 acre, I am trying PR 126 variety of paddy, which takes only 125 days to mature. I will mix groundwater with canal water to irrigate the crop and if it rains well, it will be a boon.
There are many farmers from across the cotton-producing Malwa region of Punjab who are complaining about pink bollworm and whitefly attacks. In fact, they represent the increasing trend in North Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan where farmers are ditching cotton for paddy. The trend is also visible in the considerable dip of area under cotton this kharif season.
As of the first week of July, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan have reported a total 10.
23 lakh hectares under cotton, a significant decline from last year’s 16 lakh hectares under the crop. This year, Punjab saw 97,000 hectares of cotton against the normal upto 7.58 lakh hectares in 1980s and 1990s . Similarly, from 8.35 lakh hectares last year, area under cotton in Rajasthan reduced to 4.75 lakh hectares this year. In Haryana too, the area under the crop went down from 5.75 lakh hectares to 4.50 lakh hectares in 2024.
The reduction in cotton cultivation in the three North Indian states is attributed to pest attacks by Pink Bollworm and Whitefly, and issues with tubewell water availability in Malwa belt. With better availability of water in Punjab, farmers are shifting to paddy which not only has an assured market but is also largely free from pest attacks.
Bhagirath Choudhary, founder director of the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), attributes this shift primarily to the Pink Bollworm infestation. Some farmers lament that they cannot even grow paddy because of shortage of canal water and the groundwater is unfit for drinking and irrigation purposes. Farmers in Punjab still get BT2 (cotton) seeds when BT3 and BT4 seed varieties have already hit the markets.
Darshan Singh of the Giddranwali village in Abohar said he has ploughed 5 acre of cotton to grow the PR 126 paddy.
“I will mix groundwater with canal water and at least paddy will sell at the MSP. The Cotton Corporation of India doesn’t purchase all the cotton at MSP and we are left at the mercy of the traders.
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Ram Singh of the Bhainibagha village in Mansa has also switched to guar (cluster bean) in place of cotton as he has less water available to grow paddy. Earlier, obtaining permission to install agricultural tubewells was a cumbersome process that involved bureaucratic delays. Now, with the availability of canal water and personal solar-operated submersible pumps, many farmers have bypassed these challenges and are growing paddy.
Bhagwan Bansal, a cotton expert and owner of SS Cotgin Pvt Ltd, reports a severe reduction in ginning units in Punjab, from 422 in 2007 to just 40 today. This decline reflects the shrinking cotton area. Bansal attributes the problem to persistent pest attacks and insufficient farmer education on pest management.
He advocates for advanced, disease-resistant seeds and plans to raise the issue with the Union Agriculture Minister to seek support for revitalising Punjab’s cotton industry.
Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said that 128 teams have been tasked to visit cotton fields and conduct pest surveillance, besides guiding farmers on measures.
