Amid farmer suicides, India soars to top as largest cotton producer in the world

New Delhi, Nov 2: Amid farmer suicides and agricultural debacle comprising draught in several parts of the country, India has a reason to joy.

It is likely to emerge as the largest cotton producer in the world in 2015-2016, beating China with 400 lakh bales. Cotton production in all the countries have been low as compared to the previous season.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), global cotton production between 2015-2016 has been estimated to be at 23.68 million tonnes, whereas it was 25.90 million tonnes in the previous season, down by 8.6%.

Even China and US have produced lesser cotton this season. The USDA has estimated that with a cotton area of 11.26 million hectares, the cotton production would be 370 lakh bales. However, the production has still gone down to 524 Kg per hectare, which is lower than 527 kg because of lesser rains and pests.

OneIndia News