India’s Cotton Balance Sheet under Two Decadal Scenarios: A Review

Abstract

India ranks second in the global cotton balance, next only China. Cotton is the mainstay of India’s textile industry, accounting for roughly 74% of total textile mill usage. India’s cotton production has increased due to the introduction and rapid geographical expansion of bollworm resistant Bt cotton. The objective of this paper is to compare cotton balance analyses and to investigate the factors that have influenced cotton development over the last 22 years. The pertinent arguments presented in this article support the analytical discussion of the cotton trade’s yearly trends. Between 2000-01 and 2021-22, there will be an average of 30 million bales of cotton produced, 5.6 million exported and 1.4 million imported by India. By adding observable carryover stocks, the entire supply of cotton in India has consistently outperformed the total demand. However, Indian cotton farmers face a variety of issues, including increasing production costs, unmanageable debts, stagnant yields, constant pesticide use, inadequate irrigation, a lack of modern technology, manual picking, vulnerability to contamination, deterioration in genetic purity, competition from artificial fibres, particularly synthetic fibre, fluctuating market prices and lack of CCI participation. To boost cotton output, governments must provide high-yielding, high-quality hybrid seeds and appropriate irrigation infrastructure.