According to the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), the acreage under cotton cultivation is an all time high this year at 92.5 lakh hectares compared to 88.10 lakh hectares in the previous year. It is this which made CAB estimate a much higher production of 175 lakh bales compared to the output of 158 lakh bales last year. But excessive rains in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh affected the crop to the extent of about 14 lakh bales.