Cotton Cultivation in India

Growing conditions

• Cotton is a Kharif crop. It is sown around April-May and harvested between September and November.
• It needs 200 or more frost-free days.
• It needs temperatures of 21-30°C and 50-75 cm of rainfall.
• It grows best in black (regur) soil, common across the Deccan Plateau.
• Major producing States include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Gujarat is the top State: see Gujarat.

CCI and the MSP safety net

• The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) buys raw cotton from farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP).
• It supplies that cotton to the textile industry.
• See Support Pricing System and MSP Mechanics.

A unique position

• India is the only country that cultivates all four recognised cotton species.
• It ranks first in cultivation area, and second in both production and consumption.
• G. hirsutum (American upland cotton) makes up nearly 90% of hybrid cotton production. All of India’s Bt cotton hybrids belong to this species.

“White Gold”

• Cotton contributes nearly 19% of global fibre production.
• It supports about 6 million cotton farmers directly, and another 40-50 million people in related work. That earns it the name “White Gold.”
• It feeds India’s large textile industry, linking farm output to spinning, weaving and garment exports. See Textile Industry in India.

The Bt cotton timeline

• 2002: Bt cotton becomes India’s first approved commercial GM crop. It now covers over 90% of India’s cotton area.
• 2008: scientists find pink bollworms surviving on Bt cotton in Gujarat, an early sign of resistance.
• 2014: pink bollworm populations develop resistance to a second Bt gene, Cry2Ab. The pest problem deepens.
• Resistance later spread beyond Gujarat into Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• For the wider story, see Genetically Modified Crops and Biotechnology Regulation in India.

What to take from it

• Pink bollworm resistance shows that genetic engineering is not a permanent fix.
• Pests can evolve around a single-gene defence within years. That is why refuge-crop planting exists alongside Bt seeds.
• India’s 20% global share, without dominant control over cotton-processing technology, mirrors a common pattern. Growing a commodity does not mean capturing most of its value chain.
• CCI’s price support matters most when open-market prices crash. It shows government acting as a buyer of last resort in a volatile sector.
• Cotton’s need for many frost-free days ties its safe zone to regional climate. Cold snaps or early frosts are a real yield risk.

A benefit-sharing payout across 11 States

• On 22 July 2026, the National Biodiversity Authority released ₹6.67 crore under its Access and Benefit Sharing mechanism.
• It was funded by a ₹7.62 crore payment from Bayer Science & Innovation (formerly Monsanto), for research using 25,431 cotton varieties.
• Maharashtra got the largest share (₹2.41 crore), followed by Gujarat and Telangana. Shares followed each State’s share of cotton area. (Source: PIB)

Production falls, imports rise

• Parliament heard that output fell from 352.48 lakh bales (2020-21) to 290.91 lakh bales (2025-26).
• Acreage fell from 132.85 to 114.84 lakh hectares, as some farmers moved to other crops.
• Cotton prices rose about 18-19% over the same period.
• The government exempted the 11% import duty on raw cotton from 1 June to 31 October 2026. Raw cotton imports have already jumped 80.26% year-on-year. (Source: PIB)

Kapas Kranti: a ₹5,659 crore mission

• The Union Cabinet approved the Mission for Cotton Productivity (“Kapas Kranti”) on 5 May 2026, with a ₹5,659.22 crore outlay from 2026-27 to 2030-31.
• It aims to raise lint productivity from about 441 kg/hectare to 755 kg/hectare by 2031.
• It aims to raise output from about 300 to 498 lakh bales.
• Eligible farmers can get input help of up to ₹14,000 per hectare.
• The first phase covers 140 districts in 14 major cotton States, reaching about 32 lakh farmers.
• Focus areas: climate-resilient and pest-resistant seeds, Extra Long Staple cotton, and continued pink bollworm resistance management.
• Implementers include the Ministries of Agriculture and Textiles, 10 ICAR institutes and CSIR. The vision is “Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign.” See Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

CCI’s 56th Foundation Day

• On 1 August 2026, CCI detailed season 2025-26’s MSP buying: over 522 lakh quintals of seed cotton, from nearly 24 lakh farmer transactions.
• It transferred ₹41,530 crore directly to farmers’ Aadhaar-linked accounts.
• For season 2026-27, the MSP for seed cotton has risen by about 7%.
• The event also launched the ‘Kapas Darshan’ Bulletin, and a Kasturi Cotton Bharat MoU targeting 30,000 certified cotton bales. (Source: PIB)