Global cotton production down
21/12/2009
Global 2009–10 cotton production is estimated at 102.7 million bales, down 4% from a year ago, and continuing the trend of declining production which began in 2007–08, India’s Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has said in a new report.
The organisation said that factors contributing to the decline are the sluggish recovery from the global financial crisis and the world food price shock of 2008 which encouraged cotton farmers to grow food grains instead of other crops.
Reduction in production is expected in some major cotton producing countries. In China, the 2009-10 production is estimated at 31.5 million bales, down 5.2 million bales (14%) from the previous year. The rising cost of production, unavailability of farm workers and bumper official subsidies to grain producers induced Chinese cotton growers to cut area by 13% to 5.2 million hectares from the previous year, the AEPC report claimed.
In Uzbekistan, 2009–10 production is estimated at 4.4 million bales, down 4% from a year ago. Uzbek cotton area in 2009-10 is estimated to have declined 9% to 1.3 million hectares from a year earlier. Brazil’s 2009–10 cotton production is estimated at 5.4 million bales, 2% below the previous year’s crop, as cotton area continues to decline.
Planting of the 2009-10 crop is currently ongoing in Brazil with December and January the peak planting months. The US is expected to produce 12.6 million bales in 2009-10, down 2% from the preceding year.
Production declines in those countries are expected to be partly offset by increases in other major producing countries. India’s 2009-10 production is estimated at 23.8 million bales, up 5% from a year ago. Production in Pakistan is predicted to increase 9% to 9.8 million bales, while in Australia, production is expected to rebound by 20%— to 1.8 million bales—from a year earlier.
Australia’s cotton is normally planted between October and November and harvested between March and April. Improvement in water availability in Australia has seen production gaining momentum after the sharp downturn in 2007-08, the report said.
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