Cotton Association of India (CAI) has initiated a slew of measures to boost cotton farming produce and growth across the value chain to ensure export promotion of cotton. The country is facing a dearth of export revenue owing to discounting of our product on lines of poor quality owing to mixing of moisture and contaminants with cotton and we should put a stop to such practices, opined Atul S Ganatra, President CAI.
He bemoaned the lackluster performance of cotton value chain in the export segment despite being the second largest exporter of cotton only after US, and announced the incentivizing of the cotton value chain by issuance of awards for good performance. He also announced the CAI’s decision to hold two annual conferences per year from this year on and put an end to the eight year gap where there was a void in any activity. He called for a marked improvement in the per hectare production of cotton across the 10 cotton producing States in India to make up for the small land holdings of the Indian farmers and to usher in India as a world leader in the production of cotton. At present against the world average of 779 kg per hectare, Indian cotton farms yield only 500 kg per hectare. This should change for good if we want to make India a world leader in cotton production, he averred.
In the concluding remarks at the function, he said, “We have provided a session for each segment be it textile industry, ginners, domestic and international traders to discuss issues confronting them and finding solutions. The conference will witness an exciting and intense discussion of issues and challenges facing the cotton industry.”
