Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development presented report on ‘Development of Cotton Sector’

Posted 08 Feb 2024

Updated 16 Mar 2024

2 min read

Cotton is an important commercial crop with India being first in the world in area under cotton cultivation.
- India is second largest producer and second largest consumer of cotton.
- Majorly, cotton is produced in 11 states with Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana having major share.

Committee observed that cotton sector faces following challenges:
- Fluctuating production growth due to cultivation in rainfed conditions (67%).
- India’s extremely low per hectare cotton yield (447 Kgs/hectare compared to China’s 1993 Kgs/hectare) due to outdated Bt seed technology, whitefly and pink bollworm infestation.
- Deterioration in soil health due to absence of crop rotation and proper crop residue management.
- Higher area expansion in less efficient districts.

Committee recommended that Government should:
- Come up with an umbrella policy approach for cotton sector linking the activities in all spheres.
- Overhaul the cropping system, strengthen market linkages, enhance R&D to develop new cotton varieties, and improve pest management practices.
- Bring more area of cotton cultivation under irrigation and increasing its productivity.
- Address the problems faced by farmers in procuring the genetically modified seeds by measures like cap on prices, seed development by government entities etc.

PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme
Cotton development programme under National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
Mobile app Cott-Ally to increase awareness about Minimum Support Price for Cotton
Branding of Indian Cotton as “Kasturi Cotton India”
Project “Targeting technologies to agro-ecological zones-large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance cotton productivity” under NFSM

Watch News Today

Need to Login First !