Cotton Farmers Of Sirsa Go High-Tech, Lead The Way In Regenerative Agriculture
A new regenerative farming initiative in Haryana's Sirsa is delivering higher yields, lower costs, and renewed hope for farmers of North India’s cotton belt.
Published : May 31, 2025 at 2:36 PM IST
Sirsa: Once hailed as ‘white gold’, when cotton was getting lighter on the pockets of farmers across North India after being affected by pests, dwindling water tables, erratic climate patterns, and resultant loss in yields, some farmers are showing signs of bouncing back and how! With the help of high-tech regenerative farming practices like drip fertigation and integrated pest management, farmers are now harvesting more cotton with less water, lesser chemicals, and a lot of enthusiasm.
This method was adopted in Gidda village of Sirsa district, where the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) experimented on ways and means to revive cotton cultivation through high-tech interventions. It was at a field exhibition during the Kharif 2024 that the North India High-Tech Research and Development Station, SABC, supported by the PI Foundation and the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) showed farmers, scientists and policy makers, how technology can transform the cotton landscape.
“The results were stunning to say the least. We showed that with proper water and nutrient management, cotton yields can increase early threefold,” said Dr. Deepak Jakhar, lead scientist at SABC.
Traditionally, Haryana used to produce cotton yields of around 6–8 quintals per acre. But as per SABC’s demonstration plots, the yields showed a growth of up to 13–15 quintals per acre which was more than double. This was possible due to the strategy of combining drip irrigation and fertigation with canopy management and pest control.
What is Drip fertigation? It is the process of delivering water and fertilizers directly to plant roots, cutting irrigation water usage by up to 60%. This is particularly important for districts like Rania and Ellenabad which are water-stressed. Simultaneously, it was seen that fertilizer usage in the experimental fields had also come down to 40%, reducing both input costs and environmental damage.
“We were used to irrigate in the normal way and scattered urea and DAP across the field,” said farmer Buta Singh, who has adopted the new method. “Now, with drip lines, we our resources are saved and we get healthier crops with less disease,” he added.
Cotton farmers across Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have been battling pink bollworm infestations, whiteflies, and the cotton leaf curl virus, which devastated their fields discouraging them to continue cotton farming. SABC’s regenerative model uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques like pheromone traps and mating disruption technology (PBNot), which reduce pesticide use to a big extent.
“Instead of spraying indiscriminately, we are helping farmers monitor pest accumulation in a scientific way because we need to protect the crop and the ecosystem as well,” said Dr. Jakhar.
According to government estimates, cotton acreage across Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan went down by nearly 5 lakh hectares in 2024 in comparison to the previous year. However, Punjab witnessed the sharpest fall, with area under cotton cultivation coming down to one lakh hectare from 2 lakh hectares in 2023. Rajasthan too saw a drop of 34%, while Haryana came down by 17%.
Experts say there are many reasons, the most important being persistent pest attacks. Besides, high input costs, poor returns and unreliable rainfall too add to the farmers' woes. Its effect was most starkly felt when cotton gave way to paddy which led to groundwater depletion as the crop needs more water. This created a vicious cycle of unsustainable farming.
This is where SABC’s initiative in Sirsa mattered. “We have shown that cotton is profitable even when climate stress is there. Just that one needs to apply science judiciously,” said Dr. Bhagirath Choudhary, Director of SABC.
On the other hand, Dr. Dilip Monga, former head of the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) in Sirsa, who has spent more 30 years in cotton research says farmers should transition to sustainable practices. “I retired in 2020 but even now I am working on solutions to reduce farmers’ costs and improve productivity. The two most important techniques for cotton are drip fertigation and pest management, they are new lifelines,” he asserted.
The exhibition held under Project Bandhan aimed at bracing local farmers with techniques so that they can reap good profit from cotton cultivation. With the use of mepiquat chloride, mechanical detopping, and flat-bed sowing techniques, plots under high-tech cultivation yielded up to 15 quintals per acre.
Now, the area under regenerative cotton cultivation in Sirsa has gone up from 2 acres last year to 5 acres this season. “We started in Gidda, and now plan the same for Khariyan village. There are many experts and farmers who have shown keenness to visit our centre so that they can learn the techniques from us,” said Dr. Jakhar.
Exhibitions for farmers at the research station demonstrate drip line installations, solar-powered irrigation tanks and live pest monitoring and canopy management sessions. “We do not just demonstrate to the farmers, we explain everything basic to them as well,” added Dr. Rishi Kumar, Head of the Central Cotton Research Institute in Sirsa.
Among the farmers, Buta Singh is one of the early adopters of the new techniques. “I have understood the science behind the cultivation. The scientists made us learn. Otherwise earlier we lost crops to whitefly and pink bollworm. Now we have the means to control all the problems to ensure our cotton stays healthy,” Singh said.
Singh’s neighbours are also keeping a close eye on his crop. “The difference is for all to see. First, we are saving on water, fertilizer, and still getting better prices for cotton quality and high yield,” he added.
Experts believe that if the regenerative model is scaled up, it could be a game changer. The decline of cotton in North India can be reversed. But they also suggest the government, private players, and farmer cooperatives to support so that it can be scaled up in the real sense.
SABC has suggested drip fertigation and IPM to be promoted as standard practices. "But subsidies must be provided on drip kits, solar pumps, and capacity-building workshops. Then only the cotton economy can be revived. But it should be sooner than never,” said Dr. Monga.
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