Rohtak, May 15 -- Repeated pest attacks, collapsing yields, rising cultivation costs, and recurring crop failures have pushed Haryana's cotton farming into crisis. Farmers across the state's traditional cotton belt are forced to abandon the once-profitable white gold cultivation and shift to water-guzzling paddy for assured returns.

According to farmers and researchers, cotton cultivation is rapidly turning unviable, with the trend most visible in Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, and Jhajjar districts.

The development is considered a jolt to the Haryana government's efforts to save groundwater under the Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme. In districts like Sirsa and Hisar, where cotton previously acted as a buffer for t...