Cotton prices down over 30%; farmers affected: Kaveri Seed

The cotton industry is facing one of the toughest years in the past two decades. The Cotton Association of India (CAI) has reduced its cotton crop forecast by 1.50 lakh bales in its July estimate for 202021, beginning October, to 354.50 lakh bales compared to the previous month, following lower output exceptions in Gujarat and Telangana. The total cotton production in 2019-20 (October 2019-September 2020) had stood at 360 lakh bales, CAI said in a statement.

“This year was a very tough year for the entire hybrid seed market,” said C Mithun Chand, Executive Director, Kaveri Seed in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

“Majorly cotton, maize and rice contributes to the hybrid seed market - overall Indian seed market. All the three crops are down this year. Especially cotton is down more than 30 percent,” he added.

Last quarter the company had guided for an overall growth of about 10-15 percent which the management says have been met.

“We said 15-20 percent growth in non-cotton and 5-10 percent growth in cotton. But if you divide in those forms, we have grown at more than 15 percent in non-cotton segment even in these conditions. But in cotton as I said earlier, the branded seeds have been impacted by more than 30 percent. That has impacted the profitability as such,” he shared.