Low Posture

The Million Bale 'Discrepancy' Nishtar WHAT are the cotton crop prospects for 1970-71? Not "very rosy", says- Captain Ranjit Singh, chairman of Indian Cotton Development Council. Unfortunately, the impression one gathers from the very brief account he has given of the crop is that the prospect is not only not "very rosy" but it is rather bleak. The supply of irrigation water in the canal irrigated States of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was ''somewhat irregular and inadequate" at the optimum sowing time of cotton with the result that not only was there a slight shrinkage in area but more than 50 per cent of. the crop was also sown late which usually diminishes the yield, Gujarat had again the misfortune of falling victim to heavy rains and floods and the cotton crop over an area of some 75,000 hectares in the State lias been "totally destroyed" while the growth and productivity of the crop have been impaired in some more areas. In Maharashtra also excessive rains havedamaged both the irrigated and rainfed crops in several tracts and the continuous wet weather is said to have given rise to severe infestation of pests like boll-worms which are difficult to control even with the most potent chemicals available.