Meanwhile, according to Union government data, cotton acreage in the country stood at 116.75 lh – 1.16 per cent lower as compared to 117.91 lh recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Besides attacks by white flies and pink bollworms, cotton farmers struggle without timely water supply at the time of sowing. They are also not well versed with methods of damage control, said a senior officer in the agriculture department.