NE BUSINESS BUREAU
COIMBATORE, DEC 16
The Cotton Development and Research Association (CD & RA) of Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) here is gearing itself up to develop various cotton seeds. The aim of developing the seeds is to mitigate the challenges of BT cotton, herbicide, water scarcity (drought- tolerant), high density, environment protection and water conservation.
The Cotton Corporation of India, SIMA – CD & RA, and Confederation of Indian Textile Industry have successfully conducted the extra-long staple (ELS) cotton trials in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, newly-elected SIMA CD&RA chairman Ravichandran said here.
SIMA CD&RA has identified farmers and areas for multiplying the pure organic cotton under contract farming in the coming season and a few leading mills have already come forward to venture into this pilot project, he said.
He was addressing the 45th annual general meeting of the association held on Wednesday. Stating that the association has developed brown and green colour cotton seeds which are ready for commercial multiplication, he said the naturally coloured cotton would be organic and an ultimate solution for textile processing.
The naturally coloured cotton would also be more skin – friendly and would have sustained physical and chemical properties, hence would have good market opportunities, Ravichandran said.
He said the association has developed Shakthi BT and SIMA platinum cotton and has recently been certified and ready for commercial multiplication.
Ravichandran appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch the technology mission on cotton 2.0 to increase the yield from 500 kgs per hectare to 750 kgs per hectare in the next five years and adopt various technologies to double the farmers income.
The meeting unanimously elected G Venkataramachandran and S K Sundararaman as deputy chairman and vice-chairman respectively of the association.
