Area under cotton in the country is expected to be 10 per cent lower compared to the current year for several reasons, according to J. Thulasidharan, president of Indian Cotton Federation.
He said at the annual meeting of the association here on Sunday that cotton production was around 385 lakh bales last season and is expected to be 338 lakh bales this year (October 2015 to September 2016). Even in the current year, cotton imports touched 18 lakh bales and the global cotton stock situation is not comfortable.
“Cotton supply situation will be tight since there is overall shortfall of acreage,” he said.
‘Release policies’
Mr. Thulasidharan urged the Central and State Governments to release the fibre and textile policies at the earliest. Scientists, farmers, seed suppliers and government agencies should work towards ensuring quality supply of cotton. Though the quality is not good, cotton prices have started shooting up.
Seed certification
norms
The association decided to appeal to the Government to implement seed certification norms strictly, make available export-import data promptly, establish a cotton board, and make available funds for agronomy research.
The textile industry, which is the main consumer of cotton, is facing competition from countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam and the industry needs to focus on value addition. However, though there are challenges, the future of cotton trade and textile industry will be on a growth path, he said.
