Satellite to help govt review cotton prospects, exports

The government will use satellite technology to assess cotton prospects for the current season and review the export policy in the wake of rising prices of the natural fibre, a senior official said today.

"When the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) meets, it will have an assessment based on the satellite imagery and the inputs of the Ministry of Agriculture," Textiles Secretary Rita Menon said on the sidelines of a Ficci function here.

The CAB, which has been constituted by the government to monitor domestic and international prices of cotton and cotton yarn, is likely to hold a review meeting either in December or January, she said.
    
The cotton season runs from October through September.
    
The government has allowed export of 55 lakh bales (170 kg each) of cotton for the current season without duty. Cotton prices are rising both in the international and domestic markets due to droughts and floods wiping out a lot of the cotton harvest in China and Pakistan.
   
There are projections of a record production of cotton at 325 lakh bales in 2010-11 against the estimated demand of 266 lakh bales.
    
The commodity prices in India have witnessed a rise of 89 per cent, according to the information provided by the Minister of State for Textiles Panabaaka Lakshmi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
    
The Textiles Secretary indicated that exports beyond 55 lakh bales may not be possible in the backdrop of the difficulties faced by the textiles industry.
    
"There are so many problems in the domestic market... I really can't think at this moment, upping the 55 lakh bales (exports)," Menon said.
    
While the textiles industry is up in arms against cotton exports, the Agriculture Ministry seems inclined to let the growers take advantage of the rising international prices.
    
The garment exporters had threatened yesterday that they would shut their operations to protest against cotton exports.