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G. Gurumurthy

Demand expected to be strong

Coimbatore , Sept.3

South India Cotton Association (SICA) has projected the domestic cotton crop for 2006-07 to go up by 10 per cent over the 2005-06's output level of 245 lakh bales. The forecast has taken into account damages caused by floods in certain areas, it said.

On the other hand, the demand is also expected to be strong, taking into account the rising cotton consumption and the higher volume of export of raw cotton. The cotton prices should, therefore, rule firm during the coming season, said the SICA President, Mr C. Soundara Raj.

Firm prices

The world's two largest producers, the US and China, are facing crop problems due to drought (in the US) and flooding (in China), so the international cotton crop situation this year may pose some difficulties forcing a firm prices trend.

This will also attract more foreign buyers to India and the cotton export this year may climb up to 60 lakh bales from around 45 lakh bales last year, the SICA president said, while addressing the association's 27th annual general meeting here on Sunday.

Mr Raj, who was re-elected as President of the association for the year 2006-07 at the AGM, underlined the need for putting in place a firm bank-assisted cotton payment system, which would enable greater liquidity in cotton marketing. This would benefit both the cotton growers and the trade, and at the same time provide scope for cost reduction of raw materials.

Model Farming

Following the success of the SICA-Super Spinning Mills Ltd's model cotton farming for propagation of the ELS cotton variety last year, this farm is being expanded this year by increasing the planting area to 60 cents.

Based on this pattern, the association has also arranged to develop one more model cotton farming in association with Coimbatore-based textile house, Rithanya Textiles Ltd. This second model farm, which will be coming up on a five-acre land, has used extra long staple cotton variety MRC-6918 promoted by the Maharashtra Hybrid Seed company, according to the SICA President.

More Stories on : Cotton | Industry Associations | Textiles

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