Jalgaon: Farmers Shift To Maize As Cotton Acreage Drops 20% This Kharif Season

Jalgaon farmers shifted from cotton to maize due to unsatisfactory cotton prices, reducing cotton acreage by 20% from 550,000 to 418,000 hectares.

District Agriculture Superintendent Kurban Tadvi cited rising production costs, labour shortages, and lack of remunerative prices as reasons for the decline.

Maize area expanded to 160,000 hectares due to lower costs, less water use, and high demand for animal feed and ethanol production.

Sowing of pulse crops like tur (pigeon pea), moong (green gram), and soybean also increased significantly.

Khandesh Ginning and Pressing Factory Owners' Association president Pradeep Jain warned the drop could affect over 150 ginning factories in the region.