Cotton yield for 2006-07 pegged at 4 lakh bales

The production of Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton during the cotton year 2006 - 07 (October - September) is pegged at four lakh bales, one-and-a-half times more than the current year's output of 250 lakh bales (1 bale = 170 kilo gram).

Various cotton trade bodies and associations have taken initiatives to increase the acreage and to increase the yield by using hybrid seeds.

Speaking to Business Standard, A Ramani, joint secretary of the South India Cotton Association (SICA), said that various associations across the country were planning to promote the use of hybrid seeds among farmers and increase the acreage to meet the increasing demand.

"Of the current year's production of 250 lakh bales, on an average, India consumes about 210 - 220 lakh bales. The remaining demand is met through import, mainly from US and Egypt. India imported around five lakh bales of ELS cotton during the current cotton year. Mills in the South account for more than 60 per cent of the total ELS consumption in the country," he added.

The demand for ELS cotton and the spiralling prices witnessed during December 2005 has prompted many seed manufacturers and associations to take up research activities to produce good seeds for the farmers. The two varieties of ELS are DCH 32 and MCU 5. However, researches have been initiated for alternative varieties of DCH 32 which is cultivated on a large scale in the country.

SICA, along with the city-based Super Spinning Mills Limited (SSML), already has a model contract farm where their own hybrid variety of Sara II is being produced and distributed to farmers on a trial basis.

The association, for the past three years, has been holding Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) regarding cotton farming for the farmers in Coimbatore, Guntur and Dharwad.

The cotton development and research arm of the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA), called SIMA-CDRA, plans to promote SIMA HB-3, a hybrid variety, in principal cotton growing states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. SIMA plans to raise the crop on 1,000 acres in the coming season, industry sources say.

Moreover, seed manufacturers such as Mahyco and Rasi Seeds also have plans to increase the acreage under Bt ELS cotton crop. Mahyco, which had sown its MRC 6918 variety over 10,000 acres in the state, is planning to increase its acreage by adding another 1,500 acres in the coming cotton year.

"With all these promotional activities, there will be a sizeable increase in the crop of ELS cotton grown in India.This increase may marginally offset the shortage in the 2006 - 07 season and may lower the import level of cotton in the coming season," Ramani added.