Bathinda Malwa Cotton Farming Punjab

Bathinda district in southwestern Punjab's Malwa zone grows American cotton varieties Bt-cotton under the Punjab government's cotton revitalisation programme, with alluvial soils and Rajasthan canal water from the Sirhind and Abohar feeder canals supporting the cotton belt. Bathinda's cotton was historically the raw material for Ludhiana's textile industry, but the district's crop area shifted heavily to paddy and wheat after the Green Revolution, creating ecological pressure; the Punjab government now subsidises desi cotton revival to reduce chemical input dependence. Cotton capsule harvest in October employs women pickers who are paid per kilogram of clean-picked cotton.