The dawn of the new year brings happy tidings for the Indian textile sector which is on the threshold of making a major breakthrough in overall performance after a prolonged phase of despondency. There is a national buzz over the abundant possibility of India replacing China as the largest cotton producer, in the 2014-15 season. According to the Central Institute of Cotton Research, Nagpur, the guesswork is purely based on the fact that India’s cotton crop has increased remarkably, with the expansion in the area of cultivation, whereas China has reduced its operations, particularly in view of the record cotton stocks being held. Whereas the Consultative Committee of Cotton Advisory Board estimates the area under cotton for 2014-15 at 126.55 lakh hectares and production at 400 lakh bales, the Cotton Association of India has put them at 123.13 lakh hectares and 405.50 lakh bales respectively. However, the Central Institute’s estimates of 126.01 lakh hectares and 340 lakh bales are reasonably fair. The variability of Indian cotton yield is determined mainly by the monsoon pattern in rain-fed regions of Central and South Zones. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh together account for 75 per cent of the total area under cultivation and 72 per cent of aggregate cotton production in the country.
The Cotton Association of India launched the special Suvin Ratna programme on November 25 for the promotion of Suvin cotton which is arguably the finest variety available in the world and thus considered the “Jewel of India”. This quality was created with the ingenuity of Indian scientists in 1967-68 by combining the Sujata cotton variety and the St. Vincent Sea Iceland cotton variety.
Of significance to note is that China imported 81,900 tons of cotton in October 2014, which was down by 42 per cent compared to the same month last year and the lowest since January 2009. It was for the first time that monthly imports of the fibre dropped below one lakh tons since October 2010. Imports are expected to remain weak in the coming months with poor demand from Chinese textile mills and the Chinese cotton prices being under pressure as a result of poor harvest. Meanwhile, the rise in textile shipments from India, currently estimated at around 4.5 per cent of world trade, may eat into the top exporter China’s 36 per cent share of the market. This will prove a boon for Indian textile merchants who are now keen to exploit the rising demand stemming from weak cotton prices and global economic growth.