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Survey shows contamination levels down

TMC makes impact on G&P sector

The Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) has made an impact on the cotton ginning and pressing (G&P) sector in the country, with modernisation picking up, and contamination levels going down perceptibly. This has been corroborated by the recent survey undertaken by the Textiles Committee, which was sponsored by the Technology Mission on Cotton along with CIRCOT and ATIRA. Reena Mital reports.

According to the study, the number of G&P units in the country has increased to 4015 during 2001-02, from the last census of 3311 units in 1993-94. Of this, 3342 units are operational. A regionwise census reveals that the eastern region comprising Assam, Meghlaya, Orissa, which had no such units till 1993-94, now has 19 units, all of which have come up recently, and are modern units.

Speaking to Express Textile, Mr P Nayak, director, market research cell, Textiles Committee, said, “Cotton cultivation is gaining ground in the east, and a number of very good varieties are being grown there. This has led to the growth of modern G&P units in this region.” As against this, G&P units in the north have come down, due to fall in cotton production and the farm sector diversifying to other crops. G&P units in the north numbered 634 in 1993-94, but have gone down to 466 in 2001-02, according to the survey. Units in Maharashtra and the central zone - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh - have gone up from 943 to 1502. In fact, under the TMC, of the 221 proposals for modernisation of G&P units, 107 proposals are from Gujarat, 79 from Maharashtra, 20 from Madhya Pradesh. Proposals from the south have been quite meagre - five from Andhra Pradesh, five from Karnataka, and nil from Tamil Nadu.

As many as 452 units of the 3342 units have got ‘well-thought out plans’ for modernisation, which includes 286 ginning units, five pressing units and 153 composite units. A regionwise analysis reveals that 216 units (48 per cent) located in the central region are keen to modernise their factories. Of this Maharashtra has the highest number of units at 141 which have planned modernisation. Around 73 units in the north, and 153 units in the south have also expressed willingness to modernise.

Level of technology indicates that of the total ginning machines of 43,585 in the country, single roller (SR) ginning machines account for 4,425 machines, double roller (DR) gins 38,286, and saw gins 1,054. However, SR gins are being fast replaced by the DR gins, and of the 26,150 DRs installed during 1991-95 and after 1995, 40 per cent DRs of normal size, 79 per cent extra long and 82 per cent jumbo gins came into the industry after 1995. Besides, almost 70 per cent of the DRs have the auto-feed mechanism, which reduces manual handling of cotton, and thus the contamination levels too.

As per the survey, levels of contamination have come down significantly, negating the ITMF report that contamination levels in Indian cotton have not declined during 1993 and 2001. The Textiles Committee studied the various contaminants in Indian cotton during 2001-02, and a comparison of the same with the 1993-94 levels, shows a perceptible decline in almost all contaminants. “The efforts of the TMC and other agencies towards educating the ginners, etc about the need for clean cotton has definitely helped. Moreover, spinners are paying a premium for clean cotton, and this has spurred the G&P units to curtail contamination,” said Mr Nayak.

According to Mr Nayak, the pressing units too have moved towards more automation and have installed machines that aid in maintaining the quality and strength of cotton. For instance, atomiser machines, line cleaning machines are becoming fairly common in the sector. The preference of areas of modernisation are building and infrastructure, 23 per cent, ginning machinery 56 per cent, pneumatic, mechanical conveying systems, 14 per cent, and testing facilities seven per cent.

Even as the G&P sector has shown an inclination towards modernisation, and towards improving the quality of cotton, a lot more still remains to be done. In case of infrastructure, the Textiles Committee has suggested that factory owners need focus on concretising the factory flooring, and in improving storage facilities, which will not require much investment. Besides, even as technology induction has begun in the sector, this needs to be given a push. “The industry has to get into the practice of pre-cleaning operation, and also needs to install lint cleaners. Automatic conveyance methods needs to be adopted. SR gins have to be replaced with DR gins with auto feeder mechanism. The larger units (with more than 24 gins) should be targetted for implementation of ISO system. Auto trampling mechanisms should be installed to prevent contamination. Best management practices starting from the time of harvesting has to be adopted. Lack of formal training has also affected the quality of cotton, and at least formally trained supervisors and fitters will provide a better work environment, efficient production systems and thus, production of quality processed cotton,” the report has recommended.