INDIA’s Rs 5,659-crore Mission for Cotton Productivity arrives at a time when the country’s cotton economy is confronting both an agricultural and industrial crisis. Falling yields, rising pest attacks and shrinking acreage have steadily weakened a crop that once powered rural incomes and India’s textile strength. The Centre’s ambitious intervention, therefore, is not merely about boosting production; it is about rebuilding confidence among farmers who have increasingly abandoned cotton cultivation. For Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the stakes are especially high.
In Punjab’s Malwa belt, cotton was once considered a dependable cash crop. However, repeated whitefly infestations, pink bollworm attacks, erratic weather and rising input costs pushed farmers back towards paddy cultivation despite the severe ecological cost of groundwater depletion. The decline of cotton acreage reflects a deeper agrarian distress in North India, where farmers are often trapped between environmental unsustainability and economic insecurity. The mission’s focus on climate-resilient seed varieties, high-density planting systems, modern ginning infrastructure and extra-long staple cotton is a step in the right direction. India cannot aspire to become a global textile powerhouse while remaining dependent on imported premium cotton. The broader ‘Farm to Fibre to Fashion to Foreign’ strategy rightly recognises that agriculture and manufacturing are deeply interconnected.
The success of this mission will depend on execution at the field level. Farmers need timely access to quality seeds, affordable credit, scientific pest-management systems and crop insurance that provides real protection rather than bureaucratic frustration. Procurement systems must also inspire confidence if cultivators are expected to return to cotton. For Punjab and Haryana, reviving cotton in water-stressed regions could help reduce dependence on paddy and ease pressure on groundwater reserves. But if implementation remains trapped in paperwork and delayed coordination, the country risks repeating the same cycle of disillusionment that drove farmers away from cotton in the first place.
