The Hindu Business Line : Cotton meet calls for increasing output

Avinashi May 13 A cotton trade/textile industry sponsored meet sought to lure farmers of this water-starved zone, once known for its vast rain-fed cotton, back to growing the crop using modern crop management practices, considering the huge demand for the natural fibre created by the rising number of the spinning mills in Tamil Nadu.

Stressing the need to step up cotton output within the State, cotton scientist and former UN/FAO cotton expert, Dr V. Santhanam, said that the State's cotton crop area had fallen to 94,000 hectares by 2006-07 from 2.7 lakh hectares in 1995-96, though the higher productivity levels kept the production at the same level of 5.5-6 lakh bales.

Potential

The State has the potential to increase cotton yield to 12-15 lakh bales through a combination of crop/farm management that would lead to lower production costs.

The current average ginning percentage of cotton, 34 per cent, can be increased to 45 per cent. Adoption of mechanised farm operations such as hand-held/pneumatically controlled cotton pickers would bring down the harvesting cost, he said.

The meet was organised under the aegis of the South India Cotton Association (SICA) in association with the SIMA-Cotton Research and Development Association (SIMA-CDRA) and Avinashi Agricultural Producers Co-operative Marketing Society.

Addressing the issues involved in rain-fed cotton crop in arid region such as Avinashi, Dr T.S. Ravindran, Director, Centre for Plant Breeding and Genetics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said that usage of coir pith while sowing cotton in dry tracts will enhance moisture retention, along with other water conservation practices such as sprinkler irrigation techniques as part of precision farming to optimise yields.

The University's proposal to set up a cotton research station this year at Perambalur would further boost R&D in this area.

The farmers neglected cotton because of the high input costs due to heavy use of pesticides.

Exposure to contract farming practices would create a win-win situation for both growers and mills, the farmers were told.

The spinning units in the State, according to Mr Seethapathy, Executive Director of the Coimbatore-based Super Spinning Mills Ltd, consume 65-70 lakh bales of cotton annually.

Since the total production within the State is barely five lakh bales, the units rely on imports from other States or countries, especially in sourcing extra long staple (ELS) cottons.

Contract farming

Super Spinning has opted for contract farming model to produce its in-house ELS varieties, Sara-2 and MCU-5, by supplying quality inputs to farmers.

The produce is then bought at a premium. In the process, the company has helped the growers understand the value of producing `clean cotton,' since contaminated cotton leads to higher processing costs.

The Chairman of Lakshmi Mills Company, Mr G.K. Sundaram, said that steps to increase ELS cotton output should be urgently taken as existing domestic varieties keep losing yield vigour.

Egyptian and Russian ELS imports have become unviable. On the contrary, India has the opportunity to emerge stronger in cotton exports.

Two traditional cotton growers, Mr Sivasamy and Mr Velusamy, told the seminar that most farmers in the region abandoned cotton cultivation due to scarcity of farm labour, which has migrated to industries, and consequent high labour cost.

They said that the growers' confidence could be restored only by an assured market and remunerative prices for their produce.

More Stories on : Cotton | Contract Farming | Tamil Nadu

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