India is likely to produce 32.5 million cotton bales of 170 kg each during the current crop year 2012-13, according to the estimates released by the Indian Cotton Federation (ICF), formerly known as South India Cotton Association.
According to ICF’s projection, the state of Gujarat would top the list in cotton production with an estimated 8.5 million bales, after considering the impact of drought conditions in some areas.
The western state of Maharashtra and the southern state of Andhra Pradesh are projected to produce 8 million bales and 6.8 million bales, respectively. The other leading cotton producing states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are together likely to produce 5.7 million bales, according to ICF.
Among the remaining cotton producing states, Madhya Pradesh is estimated to produce 1.6 million bales, followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha with 1.1 million, 0.5 million and 0.2 million bales, respectively during October 2012 to September 2013 period.
