Textile sector fears moratorium on Bt to impact export competitiveness

The proposed move of Technical Expert Committee (TEC) appointed by the Supreme Court for a 10-year moratorium on field trials of genetically engineered crops will affect cotton productivity in India and significantly erode Indian textile industry’s major competitive strength, fears S V Arumugam, Chairman, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).

According to reports, TEC is planning to propose a 10-year moratorium on field trials of genetically engineered crops.

Sustained raw material supply for Indian textiles industry is substantially dependent on Bt cotton already and continued use of advanced technology will be necessary to achieve the much needed improvement in cotton productivity.

The yield of cotton has more than doubled after introduction of Bt technology and this has attracted more than 90% of cotton farmers to use Bt seeds and also resulted in a significant increase in the total area under cotton.

Consequently, from a net importer of cotton, India has been transformed into the second largest producer and exporter of cotton in the world. Currently, around 95% of acreage under cotton is under Bt.

Textile and clothing industry is the largest beneficiary of the abundant supply of cotton in the domestic market which has helped the industry to gain significant competitive advantage in the global textile markets. Right now the industry is on the threshold of growth in all the sub sectors and any set back in cotton production would dampen the growth momentum.

Restricting field trials and imposing controls on innovation would adversely affect future productivity of agriculture sector, particularly in industrial crops like cotton. This would discourage farmers from increasing cotton cultivation and would take back Indian cotton economy to the situation when India was a major importer of cotton, said Arumugam.
 
The cascading effects of such restrictions would not only affect the agriculture sector, but the prospects of textile and clothing industry which is the largest employment provider in the manufacturing sector.

“We need access to the latest seed technologies that can improve the income levels of farmers and cotton supply for the textiles industry. Stability in the cotton supply will also help the industry to meet consumer needs at reasonable prices,” an analyst said.