Concern Over Declining Output Of Suvin Cotton

The declining production of Suvin cotton, the finest of its kind and a major foreign exchange earner, has become a matter of grave concern. "Efforts are being made to produce quality seeds that provide better yield and quality so as to ensure that the nation does not lose out on this front," said M Appuswamy, president of the Tamil Nadu Cotton Ginning Pressing Traders & Growers Federation. He was speakingat a seminar jointly organised by the Tamil Nadu Cotton Federation and Sri Santha Laxmi Ginning Mills at Pollachi.

Appuswamy announced free distribution of quality seeds to farmers. Suvin cotton is well known for its superior `spinnability' and for its texture. Indian textile mills have spun this cotton into 240's count on trials, while Japanese mills have achieved a commercial production of 300's count using this Indian produce, he informed.

He said that Suvin cotton is also described as `white gold' and is one of the natural wonders of modern Indian agronomy. Being of the finest quality, it is also the most expensive cotton in the world and India is fortunately the only country blessed with this white gold. "This precious cotton is a favourite of the Japanese and Europeans," he stated.

He mentioned that the production of Suvin cotton was started in Tamil Nadu in 1974 at a yield of 18 quintals per acre. The yield has, however, gone down drastically to only to 5-6 quintals per acre now. This is attributed to lack of research and development in quality seed production and to wrong farm practices by farmers, he opined.

D Krishnamoorthy, the `father of Suvin cotton' and a participant at the seminar, expressed his disappointment at the declining yield of his invention: the `Suvin seed'. He opined that farmers use pesticides indiscriminately and this results in adversely affecting the yield.

In the seminar, booklets detailing methods of growing Suvin cotton were distributed to the farmers. A `Dr Krishnamoorthy Award', for farmers who achieve maximum yield, has also been instituted.