News Excerpt:
Cotton consumption by the textile industry in the current marketing season (October 2023 to September 2024) is among the highest in the past decade.
About Cotton:
- Cotton is one of the most important commercial crops cultivated in India and accounts for around 24% of the total global cotton production.
- It plays a major role in sustaining the livelihood of an estimated 6 million cotton farmers and 40-50 million people engaged in related activities such as cotton processing & trade.
Indian Textile Industry:
- The Indian Textile Industry consumes a diverse range of fibers and yarns and the ratio of use of cotton to non - cotton fibers in India is around 60:40 whereas it is 30:70 in the rest of the world.
- Apart from being the provider of a basic necessity of life i.e. clothing which is next only to food, cotton is also one of the largest contributors to India’s net foreign exchange.
Cotton Production in India:
- Due to its economic importance in India, it is also termed as “White-Gold”
- India got 1st place in the world in cotton acreage with 124.69 lakh hectares area under cotton cultivation i.e. around 39% of world area.
- India is the only country which grows all four species of cotton
- G. Arboreum (Asian cotton)
- G. Herbaceum (Asian cotton)
- G. Barbadense (Egyptian cotton)
- G. Hirsutum (American Upland cotton)
- G. Hirsutum represents 90% of the hybrid cotton production in India
- All the current Bt cotton hybrids are G. Hirsutuim.
Major States:
- In India, majority of cotton production comes from 9 major cotton growing states, which are grouped into three diverse agro-ecological zones, as under :-
- Northern Zone - Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
- Central Zone - Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh
- Southern Zone - Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
Cotton Corporation of India Limited (CCI):
- CCI has been nominated by the Government of India to undertake Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations when seed cotton (kapas) prices fall below the MSP level, to procure Fair Average Quality (FAQ) grade cotton offered by cotton farmers at MSP rates in various Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) market yards.
