Rains returned after 45 days in the biggest Indian cotton-producing state of Gujarat but brought both cheers as well as grief to cotton farmers.
“The last time it rained in Saurashtra, the major cotton production centre of Gujarat was at the end of July and they returned on September 16,” media reports stated.
Farmers who have irrigation sources to water their cotton farmers are in grief, while those farmers who are dependent on rains to irrigate crops are cheering.
A farmer who cultivates cotton on around 12 acres of land said he had sown cotton in late May and the rains could not have come at a worse time.
“I have a bore well through which I irrigated my cotton crop as it did not rain for around 45 days. But now when my cotton is flowering and is in full bloom, the rains have shed these flowers and buds,” he said.
Another cotton farmer who had cultivated 15 acres of cotton said although his cotton crop was almost dying due to the delay in rains, he might be able to save the crop as it had rained now.
Rains after 45 days bring both cheer and grief to Indian cotton farmers
