India became the largest producer of cotton in the year 2014-15 and continues to be a leader in cotton production in the world with 37% area under cotton. India produces 330 to 400 lakh bales and consumes 300 to 320 lakh bales of cotton per year, thus becoming a net exporter of cotton. Indian cotton has been the engine of growth for the predominantly cotton-based Indian textile industry and currently textile exports account for 80% of the production. The Technology Mission on Cotton and BT Cotton Technology has helped the country to become a world leader in cotton textile exports. However, Indian cotton quality has been far below the standard, especially in terms of trash content, contamination, etc.
This has stalled value-addition and also affected the revenue of the cotton farmers. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), established in the year 1974, started its Minimum Support Price operation during the year 1985 and is greatly helping the cotton farmers and the cotton textile industry that has been functioning under the Ministry of Textiles. The industry has been pleading with the Ministry of Textiles to standardize and brand Indian cotton. In a press release issued recently, Ashwin Chandran, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association, stated that CCI started enforcing the fair average quality norms from the cotton season 2018-19 and was successful in its venture.
He has further stated that at a function held at Mumbai, the CCI has launched its first Indian brand ‘Hira’ and is planning to market the same shortly. Chandran has put on record his appreciation of the historical initiative taken by Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani and Dr. P Alli Rani, Chairman and Managing Director of CCI. According to information shared by Chandran, the ministry is also planning to launch a scheme – Nirmal Cotton Mission – with CCI as a nodal agent that would go a long way to make Indian cotton become the best quality cotton in the world.
It would also empower the Indian cotton textiles and clothing manufacturers to produce value-added items using home grown cotton. Meanwhile, the SIMA chairman has also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch the Technology Mission on Cotton in a revised format to increase the productivity on a parallel track, which is only around 460 to 500 kg per hectare as against 1,500 to 2,200 kg per hectare achieved by over 20 countries in the world. He has said that adopting globally-recognised best practices and acquiring appropriate technology would be essential to achieve the mission of doubling the farmers’ income and make India a true global clothier of cotton textiles.