BATHINDA: Cotton harvesting in Punjab, particularly the south Malwa region, is set to commence after September 15, a delay of two weeks than the usual practice.

Agriculture experts attribute the postponement in the raw cotton picking schedule to a delay in sowing period due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Cotton is the economic lifeline of farmers in the semi-arid belt of south Malwa as the crop is sown in eight districts, mainly in Fazilka, Mansa, Bathinda and Muktsar. The sowing period in the state starts from April 18 based on the recommendations of agriculture scientists.

Amid the shortage of migrant farm workers due to the coronavirus outbreak, Punjab this year has set a record by bringing 5.01 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation, which is the highest since 2010-11 kharif or summer-sown crop season.

State agriculture officials and farmers are hopeful of a bumper crop this season.

Chief agriculture officer (Bathinda) Bahadur Singh said normally cotton picking starts by the end of August.

“However due to pandemic, sowing began in the end of April and lasted till the first week of June. Braving challenging Covid time, our field teams ensured farmers get purchasing the right types of seed, and checking the crop regularly so that any pests spotted at an early stage can be managed accordingly,” he said.

Bathinda is the leading district in cotton cultivation at 1.72 lakh hectares.

A progressive cotton grower from Bajak village Baldev Singh said this season there was no major pest attack and a high yield is expected.

“I saved on pesticides as there was no infestation of whitefly or other diseases in the crop fields,” he said.

FAZILKA VILLAGES FLOODED

Cotton and paddy fields at about 50 villages near Abohar town are flooded after a breach was reported in an overflowing Abul Khurana drain last week.

Jalour Singh, who is officiating as Fazilka chief agriculture officer, said about 15,000-acre land had been affected and crop loss assessment is underway.

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to buy cotton from Oct 1: State cotton coordinator Rajnish Goel said as the CCI will commence buying cotton on minimum support price (MSP) from October 1, farmers should bring crop in the mandis with 8-12% moisture for the best price.

“A token purchase of 15 quintal cotton was recorded in Abohar on Monday. It was purchased by private traders at Rs 5,051 per quintal. But it should not be confused with regular cotton arrival. This is an annual feature as private buyers symbolically show cotton market functioning on before the rituals of shradh,” said Goel.