Allocation for cotton in Budget ‘insufficient’, say farmers

Cotton bales stacked in a godown in Adilabad. Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: S. Harpal Singh

Cotton farmers in Maharashtra are seeking major changes in terms of technology, and increased allocations in the Union budget to fix the problem of falling productivity.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated ₹500 crore for the National Cotton Technology Mission in the Union Budget for 2025-26 presented on February 1.

Farmers, experts, and activists, however, say that this allocation alone is not sufficient to solve the productivity crisis.

Cotton yields have been on a declining trend in the past decade. According to data from the United States Foreign Agricultural Service, cotton yield was 461 kg per hectare in 2024-25 declining 8% from 502 kg in 2014-15. According to GH Wairale, senior cotton technologist based in Maharashtra, the current demand for cotton from the textile sector is around 350 lakh bales, but the current production is just around 300 lakh bales.

Lack of quality seeds

Farmers and experts blame the lack of newer seeds and innovative methods of farming the crop for the lower productivity. “We have been farming using the same method since independence,” says Dilip Thakare, a cotton farmer based in Akola, Maharashtra.

Cotton farmers in India have been using the Bollgard-2 variety of cotton for about two decades. “The variety provided good yields in the first few years but has begun to decline in recent years. The boll worms still attack the cotton plant, creating an average damage of about 30%-40% of the crop.” Mr. Thakare said. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee in India has not approved the use of the Bollgard-3 variety yet.

The second problem is farming methods.

Mr. Thakare farms cotton, soyabean, and red gram on his 67-acre farm. He uses the high density planting system. This method, he said, earned him a higher yield compared to other farmers. He also made an attempt to use machines to pick the cotton. He, however, maintains that this cannot be done by other farmers as the method is more expensive. “The government needs to allocate more than the current ₹500 crore to bring in this method,” Mr. Thakare said, suggesting that the allocation must be at least twice what has been provided.

Speaking about mechanisation, Mr. Thakare emphasised that the average age of people working on farms is 50-60. Their children had already graduated, given up on farms, and moved out in search of employment. Lack of labour, he says, is a reason to introduce mechanised farming

Mechanised farming

“People are already moving to different crops, and some are even leaving cotton farming,” Mr. Thakare claimed. In the absence of increased allocation and efforts to promote modernisation, cotton farming might further reduce, he added.

While farmers and experts look for a higher allocation to fund technological innovation from the Cotton Technology Mission, National President of All India Kisan Sabha Ashoka Dhawale says the allocation for a cotton mission in the budget is merely “cosmetic” and is intended to mask the more fundamental problems in the cotton sector. These problems are already well discussed and are long standing. The issues are remunerative prices, reduction of input costs, effective crop insurance cover, and priority to agriculture in bank lending policy.

“The main thing is that today, 90% plus of the cotton growers are not able to avail themselves of even the MSP declared by the central government. Why? Because there is absolutely no procurement by the Central Government or any of its agencies directly,” Mr. Dhawale said. The budget estimate for procurement of cotton by the Cotton Corporation of India under the price support scheme was ₹600 crore. However, the revised estimate for the same year was just ₹0.01 crore, and the same money has been allotted in the current budget, indicating poor utilisation. The cotton technology mission has, however, been allotted ₹500 crore in the current budget with no spending at all under the head in the past two years. In fact, the contribution of the Textile Ministry in total expenditure in the current budget is just 0.1%. This has seen a marginal rise in allocation from 0.07% in the revised estimates of 2024-25 and in the actuals of 2023-24.

“They are not cutting down on the cost of production and on agricultural input costs,” Mr. Dhawale said. Speaking about the need for technological upgradation, he said that such a move should be funded by the government and not be handed over to the corporations. He further reiterated the need for implementing the Swaminathan commission report recommending fixing support prices, 50% more than the comprehensive cost. He emphasised that state activity in agriculture must increase to alleviate the crisis among cotton farmers, and a technological advancement alone will not yield results.