Cotton Cultivation and Ginning Heritage of Aravalli

Aravalli district's fertile black cotton soil (vertisol) belt around Modasa and Bayad talukas supports extensive cotton cultivation, making it one of Gujarat's significant cotton-producing zones. Bt cotton varieties have replaced traditional desi cotton since the early 2000s, dramatically increasing yields from 3-4 quintal per acre to 12-15 quintal, but also increasing input costs. Traditional cotton cultivation was rain-fed and used bullock-driven inter-row cultivation. The cotton ginning and pressing industry in Modasa has historical roots in colonial-era cotton trade, when Gujarat's cotton was exported to Manchester mills. Modern ginning factories (gins) separate cotton fibre from seeds, pressing fibre into bales for spinning mills and processing seeds for cotton seed oil and cattle feed cake. Traditional hand-spinning (Khadi) of cotton survived in some Aravalli villages as Gandhian village industry.