Product
Cotton
Cotton is a Kharif crop in the major parts of the country viz. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka. In these areas, the irrigated crop is sown from March-May and the rain fed crop in June-July with the commencement of the monsoon.
Cotton is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated in India and accounts for
around 23% of the total global cotton production. It plays a major role in sustaining the
livelihood of an estimated 6 million cotton farmers and 40-50 million people engaged in
related activity such as cotton processing & trade. The Indian Textile Industry consumes
a diverse range of fibres and yarns and the ratio of use of cotton to non - cotton fibres in
India is around 60:40 whereas it is 30:70 in the rest of the world.
There are four cultivated species of cotton
- Gossypium arboreum,
- G.herbaceum
- G.hirsutum
- G.barbadense