Cotton picking gains steam in Telangana

Hyderabad: Due to the near continuous rains this season, the pest attacks, mainly pink bollworm, on the cotton have been lower this year. Also, the TS Government officials ensured that use of herbicide tolerant cotton seeds (HrBt), which is not approved by the Government, is kept low compared to 15% to 16% of the acreage […]

Hyderabad: Due to the near continuous rains this season, the pest attacks, mainly pink bollworm, on the cotton have been lower this year. Also, the TS Government officials ensured that use of herbicide tolerant cotton seeds (HrBt), which is not approved by the Government, is kept low compared to 15% to 16% of the acreage at the national level, said Ram Kaundinya, Director General of industry body Federation of Seed Industry of India.

The cotton sector needs new technology as the yields are stagnant, continue to suffer pest attacks and need weed management. Cotton cultivation using HtBt seeds is considered illegal as the Government has not approved its use yet.

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Pickings have begun in Telangana and will start gaining steam this month. Cotton was taken up in about 52 lakh acre. The average yield expected is around 3.5-5 quintal per acre seed cotton (kapas) yield, he said, adding that single-pick cotton is on the rise but will take some more time to hit the 50,000 acre that the Telangana Government targeted, he said.

The single-pick variant offers better quality produce, higher price and needs fewer labour. About 25,000 plants can be accommodated in one acre compared to 8,000-9,000 regular variants, he said.

Traceability

Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal recently in Hyderabad asked the cotton industry stakeholders to work towards setting up a traceability system for cotton. He asked the industry to make efforts to brand Indian cotton on the lines of Australian cotton, which is considered the best.

“Focus should be on avoiding contamination and this means moving towards organic cultivation. Contamination will show up in later stages of processing and these strands will stand out. As a result, the entire block gets a lower price. Telangana and a few other States produce quality cotton. Branding should be a continuous process,” said Sushil Sancheti, Managing Director, Sri Ram Spinning Mills.

“Recession fears in the key export markets like the US will hit the demand for cotton. Fashion segment will not be a priority when there is monetary tightening. Fall in consumption is a cause of concern for the industry. We are witnessing demand that is the lowest in the last five to seven years but are hopeful that the demand will rebound from January. The industry can hold stocks for some time but not the farmer,” he said, adding that the current prices, though about about 20% higher than the MSP, are significantly lower than the high prices fetched in recent times.