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Drive for cleaner cotton gathering momentum

A concerted drive launched by the Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) through its mini mission III and IV, to free Indian cotton from the stigma of contamination as soon as possible is gathering visible momentum. The attack on this scourge is directed from two sides, namely, development and modernisation of cotton marketing yard located in various parts of the country on one hand and modernisation of ginning and pressing factories on the other.

The TMC has planned to develop and modernise, in the first instance, 101 marketing yards. Already 31 such projects have been completed and another 20 are expected to be ready by the end of this month. This will take the total of modernised cotton marketing yards to 51 by the and of 2002-03. The remaining such projects are expected to be completed in the next few years. The Indian industry will then be in a position to obtain 50 per cent of its requirements of indigenous cotton free from contamination.

So far as ginning and pressing factories (G&P factories) are concerned TMC has already approved 221 such projects. About 150 will be in operation by the end of this month and the remaining 71 will be taken up thereafter.

All over the country, there are at present, about 4000 G&P factories. Of them many are economically non viable and equipped with outdated machinery. It is estimated that 1000-1200 modernised G&P units of economic size could be enough to process satisfactorily our entire cotton crop.

It is estimated that to ensure that nearly 80 per cent of the indigenous cotton supplied to the industry is free from contamination, the country will have to raise the number of modernised G&P factories to 650. In view of this, the present Tenth Plan target to have 350 such units, is expected to be raised to 500.

A number of other initiative are also proposed to achieve the desired results. It is suggested for instance, that:

• Breeding research should be limited to evolving varieties with better yield, strictly for the replacement of existing ones, since there are already more than 100 cultivars.
• Proliferation of varieties should be arrested. The varieties identified by the Cotton Advisory Board (CAB) for different agro economic zones should alone be retained for commercial cultivation and the remaining ones should be de notified.
• A permanent Denotification Committee should monitor performance of various cultures and recommend withdrawals of genotype that have shown deterioration in yield or quality, as well as those for which replacements have been evolved.
• The Varietal Identification Committee as well as Denotification Committee should be more broad-based by giving representation on them to ICMF, EICA and TMC mini-missions III and IV.
• Varieties developed by private seed companies should be subject to trials at AICCIP before recommending them for the release.
• The mini mission I should lay emphasis on maintenance breeding for reposition the pristine qualities of deteriorating varieties like S-6; DCH- 32 Suvin and MCU-5.
• The mini mission II should set up its production and productivity targets fixed for the Tenth Plan. It is suggested that since the introduction of Bt cotton is expected to increase productivity by 25-50 per cent, the mini mission II should strive to increase productivity by 75 per cent.
• The spinning mills should establish backward linkages with traders, ginneries and farmers. A single variety of cotton should be cultivated under expert supervision in associated farms. The entire product should then be ginned and pressed by modernised G&P factories, to ensure the supply of trash free, uncontaminated cotton of consistent fibre quality.

With regard to the proposed amendment of the Seed Act, it is suggested that:

• The textiles commissioner should be on the National Seed Board (NSB).
• The NSB should have a separate committee for cotton alone.
• While registering any variety, the views of the user industry should be taken into consideration.
• All existing varieties should not be deemed to be automatically registered. Only those which meet the quality requirements of the industry should be registered.
• Farmers may be allowed to use their own seeds. But they should not be allowed to sell these to others unless the same are registered with the NSB.
• The user industry should be involved in decision making on distribution of varieties among different agro climatic zones.

Some suggestions have also been made in respect of management of mini missions I and II:

• There should be a separate cell under the agricultural commissioner to specially deal with the activities related to the TMC and states and organisations involved
• There should be an implementation committee for mini missions I and II. The functionaries under it should report to the implementation committee on a regular basis.
• The TMC cell should also conduct quarterly statewise review of each state.

- M D Dewani