Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development presented report on ‘Development of Cotton Sector’ | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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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    • India’s extremely low per hectare cotton yield (447 Kgs/hectare compared to China’s 1993 Kgs/hectare) due to outdated Bt seed technology, whitefly and pink bollworm infestation.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.

 

Initiatives in cotton sector

  • 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
  • Tags :
  • cotton
  • initiatives in cotton sector
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