From the archive record
With an increase of 75.16% area under cotton cultivation this season, upper Rajasthan, mainly the Sriganganagar circle, has made a record of sorts in changing the agriculture profile of the region, by shifting from traditional crops to "white gold'' this year. In the traditional cotton growing northern region, consisting of southern Punjab, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan, it's north Rajasthan which has registered maximum shift, beating Punjab, Haryana and lower Rajasthan area. Overall, area under cotton has gone up by 32.57% this year in the northern region. Last year, both Punjab and Haryana had witnessed unprecedented hike in prices fetched by cotton crop, which explains the farmers' preference for the crop this year. Against the maximum support price of Rs 2,850 per quintal for cotton,