Cotton cultivation : An exploratory study of agricultural opportunities to fight poverty in India

Cotton has over the past years become a less profitable crop to grow. This has affected millions of people cultivating it. In India the struggles of cotton farmers become clear when looking at the high suicide rates amongst them with economic reasons being the most common cause. In this thesis the aim is to investigate the situation of small cotton farmers in India and define the important factors in deciding their profitability. To be able to achieve this, a qualitative multiple case study in Maharashtra district, India was conducted with farmer interviews as the backbone of the study. Our contribution through this thesis is to provide an improved understanding of the cotton farmers’ situation and the factors that affect their yield. We found that for the farmers in this study insufficient access to water was the most pressing issue. Water is an important factor in deciding the yield of cotton and thus important for the farmers’ economy. This finding may not be representative for other cotton growing areas as the issues can vary greatly geographically