The Hindu Business Line : `Cotton demand to exceed output by end of 10th Plan'

THE Standing Committee on cotton of the ICMF Cotton Development and Research Association (ICMF-CDRA) has anticipated deficit in the supply of cotton by end of the Tenth Plan.

The committee has anticipated the country's annual cotton requirements were likely to reach a level of 218 lakh bales against a production level of 150 lakh bales.

Mr P.D. Patodia, Chairman of ICMF-CDRA, hoped that cotton would receive priority with the new Government in view of the thrust on agriculture and rural development. There was no room for complacency as the requirements were far higher than the yield despite the fact that the country had the largest area in the world under cotton.

The root of cause of this problem was very low productivity. The cotton yield at 310 kg per hectare hovered around half the world average, he said at a meeting held here.

There was a dire need for the industry to be competitive in terms of price and quality in order to position itself to global challenges, he added.

He has listed out the thrust areas that merit focused attention, namely: transfer of production technology to cotton growers, availability of high quality cotton seeds and other inputs to growers, new genotypes, encouraging Bt cotton and integrated cotton cultivation.

Mr Patodia said the committee proposed to adopt a two-pronged strategy, which were to undertake projects on pilot basis in the cotton growing areas to educate cotton growers regarding modern methods of cultivation and to create awareness among the government authorities concerned for making vigorous and coordinated efforts for enhancing quality, productivity and production of cotton.

The agency has proposed to undertake several programmes during the 2004-05 season in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.