Cotton acreage in Punjab shrinks to just 80,000 hectares

25-Jul-2026 12:34 PM

Bathinda. The Central Government states that there has been a significant decline in cotton sowing, production, and yield rates at the national level over the past six years.

The total area under cultivation fell from 132.85 lakh hectares in the 2020-21 season to 114.82 lakh hectares in the 2025-26 season. Similarly, during the period under review, domestic cotton production dropped from 352.48 lakh bales (each weighing 170 kg) to 290.91 lakh bales in 2025-26, while the average yield rate declined from 451 kg per hectare to 431 kg per hectare.

The yield rate had stood at 443 kg per hectare during the 2022-23 season. As for Punjab, the area under cotton cultivation shrank from 1.19 lakh hectares in the 2025-26 season to just 80,000 hectares in the current 2026-27 season. Although the state government had set a target to sow cotton across 1.25 lakh hectares, the actual acreage reached only 64 percent of that figure.

Farmers' enthusiasm and interest in cotton cultivation in Punjab are rapidly declining. Due to lower domestic production, cotton imports are rising sharply; imports surged from 562,224 tonnes in the 2024-25 season to 1,013,455 tonnes in 2025-26.