India approves ₹5,659 crore cotton productivity mission through 2030-31
India has cleared a five-year cotton productivity mission worth ₹5,659.22 crore to lift output, yields and quality by 2031.
India is moving ahead with one of its biggest targeted support packages for the cotton sector. The Hindu BusinessLine reports that the Union Cabinet on May 5 approved the Mission for Cotton Productivity with an estimated outlay of ₹5,659.22 crore for 2026-27 through 2030-31. The programme is intended to tackle bottlenecks, declining growth and quality concerns that have weighed on the crop’s competitiveness in recent years.
The mission’s production target is 498 lakh bales of cotton, with each bale weighing 170 kilograms, while lint productivity is supposed to rise from 440 kilograms per hectare to 755 kilograms per hectare by 2031. The government says about 32 lakh farmers should benefit. The package also includes promotion of Kasturi Cotton Bharat for traceability and certification, a target to cut trash content below 2 percent and support for natural fibres such as flax, ramie, sisal, milkweed, bamboo and banana.
The policy comes as India’s cotton base has weakened. In 2025-26, output fell to 290.91 lakh bales from 297.24 lakh bales a year earlier even though acreage stayed flat at 114.8 lakh hectares for a second consecutive year. That area is still well below the 129.27 lakh hectares recorded in 2022-23. BusinessLine says farmers have been shifting because maize and paddy offer more assured returns, while pink bollworm pressure has also made cotton a riskier choice.
The Cotton Association of India estimates that in the 2025-26 season production may total 324 lakh bales, domestic consumption 315 lakh bales, imports 47 lakh bales and exports 15 lakh bales, with closing stocks near 292 lakh bales on March 31. In response, the mission will combine development of high-yielding, climate-resilient and pest-resistant seed with a broader rollout of production technologies. Priority tools include High Density Planting System, Closer Spacing, Integrated Cotton Management and promotion of extra-long staple cotton.
Implementation will be led by the agriculture ministry and the textiles ministry, working with 10 ICAR institutes, one CSIR institute and 10 centres under the All India Coordinated Research Project on Cotton in major cotton-growing states. The first phase will focus on 140 districts across 14 states and involve 2,000 ginning and processing factories. The plan also aims to strengthen cotton testing infrastructure, modernize processing, digitally integrate farm markets and support higher-quality cotton exports under the government’s Farm, Fibre, Factory, Fashion, Foreign strategy.