Displacing fears of a reduced cotton harvest in Punjab, officials say the state is set to achieve its target of 26.90 lakh bales this fiscal year.

Growers expect a good harvest and state this year will better its last year's production of 26.78 lakh bales, an official of Punjab agricultural department said.

Many, including the state government, expected the production to go down this year at least marginally considering adverse weather conditions and a bug attack.

But reports from the fields suggest crop has been good this year, despite the odds, said the officer.

The area under the kharif crop has increased from 6.07 lakh hectares last year to 6.48 lakh hectares this year. And therefore, the production was bound to increase, he pointed.

The area under BT cotton seeds this year increased to 5.57 lakh hectares. That is close to 90 percent of the total land under cotton cultivation in the state.