India''s cotton output estimate at 29.5-million bales.

India's cotton output is expected to be at 29.5-million bales (each bale of 170 kg) in the year September 30, higher than the 29.2-million bales estimated in April, the Cotton Advisory Board said. The exports will be also higher at 8.3-million bales, this year, more than the 8-million estimated previously, the Board said. The higher production was due to increased area planted to the crop on availability of better pricing, the Board said. India, the world's second-largest cotton producer, had produced 29.2-million bales in the last marketing season, which runs from October to September. "India may boost acreage under cotton to at least 10.5 -million hectares next season," Textile Commissioner, A B Joshi, told reporters here. India's cotton production may increase by over six per cent to a record 25-million bales in 2010-11 season if the country receives normal monsoon this year, the US Department of Agriculture had earlier forecasted. Cotton area in most growing states is forecast slightly higher than last year except in Gujarat and Maharashtra, where farmers may revert to traditional crops, the USDA report said.PTI AP JJ VKV

Source : ibnlive.in.com