BATHINDA: There are contradictory claims pertaining to the area under cotton crop for the sowing season 2017-18 in Punjab. The figures of the Union agriculture ministry and the Punjab agriculture department differ by as much as 2.27 lakh acres.The state agriculture and farmer welfare department till 1.5 months ago was claiming that cotton was sown in 3.82 lakh hectares in Punjab but it “corrected” the number to 2.91 lakh hectares with a difference of 91,000 hectares or 2.27 lakh acres. This is one-fourth or 25% of the area initially reported.While the state agriculture department has updated its data in keeping with the ground realities, the portal of the Union agriculture ministry still shows area under cotton crop in Punjab in 2017-18 to be 3.82 lakh hectares. The official website www.agricoop.nic.in/all-india-crop-situation which maintains area under crops, was updated on July 6, 2018, to recorded area under cotton in Punjab to be 3.82 lakh hectares.With this, the yield and production figures too have gone awry as Punjab has claimed yield of 730 kilogram hectare lint and production of 12,83,000 bales (1 bale=170 kg) whereas the national average of the yield is 568 kilogram per hectare lint. The lint is prepared by ginning process which comes out at 1/3rd or 34% of total raw cotton. In Punjab, while the state agriculture department has claimed production of 12.83 lakh bales, trade body Indian Cotton Association, which maintains arrival of cotton in mandis, has on June 30, 2018 recorded the arrival of 9.67 lakh bales in Punjab for 2017-18 season.The agriculture department had fixed target of sowing in 2018-19 season at 4 lakh hectares, but the sowing was done only in 2.83 lakh hectares, 1 lakh hectare less than initial figures of previous year and 1.17 lakh hectares than target.Sources said that Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in a high-level meeting in May end had shown his annoyance over such huge decline in sowing and had asked officials about reasons for it and had directed them to ensure increased sowing in the next season. Sources said that the agriculture department accepting revenue department data of previous year at 2.91 lakh hectares aiming to keep the figures of current sowing season at marginally low at 2.83 lakh.The state agriculture department officials admit that they had been claiming area to be 3.82 lakh hectares, but the revenue department has calculated the area to be 2.91 lakh hectares thus the agriculture department too changed it to 2.91 lakh hectares.Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) Bathinda branch head Brajesh Kasana said, “We were given the figure of 3.982 lakh hectares. All the calculations about production, yield and requirement of crop at the national level are calculated as per area under crop. If there is change in area, new figures will emerge.”Punjab agriculture department director J S Bains said that initially the department had calculated figures at 3.82 lakh hectares. Around 3,000 hectares out of it was damaged in Mansa, leaving 3.79 lakh hectares. The production and yield were calculated as per this figure but now revenue department has given us figure of 2.91 lakh hectare which we have officially accepted though we have asked the deputy commissioners of cotton sowing districts to verify the areas under cotton in the previous sowing season in their respective districts.”He, however, denied that figures had been fudged to make it close to the previous season.The low yield and lower prices of cotton in the cotton season 2017-18, made farmers to turn towards water guzzling paddy despite efforts of state government to keep cotton sowing near 4 lakh hectares in 2018-19. C“Our hopes of getting rates near Rs 6000 per quintal were shattering as these remained near Rs 5,000 per quintal. So we reverted to paddy,” said Gurdial Singh, Bhagwant Singh and a score of farmers in Bathinda.

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