The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) Haryana State committee has flagged a “drastic decline” in cotton cultivation across the State’s key cotton belt and announced a cotton growers’ convention to mount pressure on the government and Haryana Agricultural University to save the crop.At its meeting in Rohtak, the committee held Central government policies responsible for the slide in acreage in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Rewari and Mahendergarh — districts that traditionally anchor Haryana’s cotton output. The trend, AIKS warned, could hit lakhs of farmers and the textile sector alike.Citing a 2025 report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, the committee said Haryana’s cotton area fell from 0.72 million hectares in 2019-20 to 0.40 million hectares in 2024-25. The State’s share in national cotton acreage has shrunk from 5.36% to 3.47% in the same period. The area under cotton cultivation has seen a decline of around 28% over the past one year, said the committee, referring to media reports.AIKS leaders said the decline was not limited to Haryana, with Punjab and Rajasthan seeing similar shrinkage. Because cotton is a pure cash crop sold entirely in the market and requires less water than paddy, the shift away from it has wider implications for farm incomes and groundwater. Farmers, they said, are increasingly replacing cotton with paddy, worsening the State’s already depleting water table.The committee criticised the Centre’s recent decision to abolish the 11% import duty on cotton, calling it a “big step that will harm already distressed cotton farmers”. The move, it said, would further depress domestic prices at a time when cultivation has turned unviable.Explaining the crop’s failure, AIKS national vice-president Inderjit Singh listed two major factors. First, repeated pink bollworm attacks have devastated fields. Bt cotton, marketed by seed companies as pest-resistant, failed to withstand the pest. Farmers were then sold large volumes of pesticide that also failed to control infestations, while little was done by Haryana Agriculture University or the State Agriculture Department to revive desi cotton varieties, now near extinction.Second, climate change has brought unseasonal rain and waterlogging, damaging standing crops across the cotton belt. Price was the third blow. He cited the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) figure of ₹8,267 per quintal as MSP for cotton, against the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s demand of ₹10,624 based on the C2+50% formula -- a gap of ₹2,357 per quintal. A study by HAU scientist Dr Vinay Mehla found farmers were losing ₹15,142 per acre on cotton.Mr. Singh said the State committee would soon convene a meeting of cotton growers to finalise an action plan. He alleged that the State government promises of financial incentives to shift from paddy to cotton have been “just an eyewash” with no delivery on the ground. Published - June 09, 2026 12:24 am IST