The Gujarat cotton season follows the Indian cotton year, which runs from October to September. Sowing takes place with the monsoon in June and July, picking starts in October, and bale arrivals at the market yards peak from November to February before tapering off through the spring. For a buyer, the practical window to book fresh-crop Shankar-6 at the best combination of quality and price is usually that peak arrival period. The season also decides who is holding stock, with ginners early on and traders and the Cotton Corporation of India later, which changes who you negotiate with.
The calendar
- June to July: sowing after the first monsoon rain across Saurashtra, Kutch and north Gujarat.
- August to September: crop growth, with rainfall in these months deciding yield and quality.
- October: first picking and early arrivals, often with higher moisture and more variable grade.
- November to February: peak arrivals, the widest choice of lots and usually the most competitive prices.
- March to May: arrivals thin out, remaining stock is held by ginners, traders and the Cotton Corporation of India, and prices often firm.
- June to September: the tail of the season, when quality can be mixed and buyers rely on stored bales.
What the weather does
A late or weak monsoon delays sowing and shrinks the crop, while heavy rain during picking raises trash and lowers grade. Gujarat's crop is largely rain-fed in Saurashtra and partly irrigated elsewhere, so the monsoon matters more here than in some other states. Buyers who follow the monsoon reports from July onwards have a good early sense of what the season will look like.
Pest pressure also varies from year to year, and a bad pink bollworm season can cut the later pickings, so the first and second pickings matter more in such years. Early-season bales tend to carry higher moisture, which affects both weight and storage, so ask for the moisture reading at pressing.
Planning your booking
If you need a consistent quality across a year's production, book in the peak months and have the ginner press and hold bales, or ship in staggered lots. Fresh-crop cotton in December is usually brighter and cleaner than stored cotton in August. Late-season buying can still work for coarser counts where trash and colour matter less, and prices sometimes dip in the last weeks before the new crop arrives.
Allow time for logistics. Ginning towns in Saurashtra are within a day's road transport of Mundra, Pipavav and Kandla (Deendayal), but vessel space tightens in the peak months as agricultural exports pile up. Booking containers early is as important as booking bales early. A written booking with a delivery schedule, rather than spot buying each month, usually gets a better price from a ginner who wants steady cash flow through the season.
What we do
We follow the monsoon and the arrival reports and tell you when it makes sense to book. We visit ginners during the picking season, draw sealed samples for an NABL-accredited lab, supervise loading and keep one approved ginner and one backup. A short weekly update keeps you informed through the season, and a free 20-minute sourcing review is the easiest way to plan your first booking.