Futures contracts of cotton on the MCX hit 2-year high of 22,560 rupees per bale (1bale=170kg) due to concern about lower acreage in key growing states.Acreage is likely to fall in Maharashtra due to a pink bollworm attack on the cotton crop last year. So far, India’s kharif cotton acreage is estimated at 996,000 ha, compared with 1.22 mln ha a year ago. The area under cotton in Maharashtra is estimated to decline by 10% to 3.6-3.7 mln ha in 2018-19 (Oct-Sep).