Time for India to Adopt Global Best Standards in Cotton Productivity

· All stakeholders must come together in Mission mode for holistic growth of Cotton Textiles Value Chain in India to achieve 5Fs ‘Farm to Foreign’ vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister

· Private sector must also come forward and contribute to boost research in productivity, farmers education as well as branding

· To support Quality , all testing facilities to be provided from Farm to Industry

· Growth of Cotton Production and Productivity vital to employment growth in Country: Narendra Singh Tomar

· Short term and Long term strategies to be worked out for boosting productivity –Tomar

An interactive meeting with stakeholders of Cotton Textile Value Chain on improving cotton productivity & branding of Indian Cotton was held at Vanijya Bhawan New Delhi, on 24 July, 2022 in the august presence of Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles and Smt. Darshana V. Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles & Railways.

Piyush Goyal , Union Minister for Commerce & Industry , Textiles , Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution said that its time for India to adopt world standards in Cotton Productivity. He also said that all stakeholders must share best practices to boost cotton productivity in India to boost farmer incomes.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Goyal said that Private sector must contribute to boost research in productivity, farmers education as well as branding to which Government would provide matching support. Asserting integrated approach, Mr. Goyal said that private sector has to act in a Mission mode to strengthen the Cotton Value Chain. He further added that we need to brand our own cotton which is good quality by equal contribution from Industry. Action on reducing contamination issues like coloured HDPE. Master plan to be worked out by industry within one week.

Mr. Goyal said that cotton works like a bridge between agriculture and textile sector. Cotton-based products have significant share of total Textiles & Apparel products both at Domestic and International level. With Market access opening through FTAs, it is but imperative to get our act together to enhance Productivity and Quality both. Mr. Goyal said that we need to bring back our dominance in the global cotton industry and India looks at Textiles as a key sector that will help us build an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”. He also said that Centre is working on ‘5F ’ vision of Hon’ble PM: ‘Farm to Fibre; Fibre to Factory; Factory to Fashion; Fashion to Foreign’ . It may be noted that Textile sector has taken giant strides from RoSCTL to RoDTEP& NTTM to PM Mitra for increasing cotton and textiles production in India. Agreements for duty-free access of Textiles with Australia & UAE have given a new impetus to the trade and similar agreements with EU, UK & Canada are being negotiated.

Mr. Goyal said that it is vital to increase yield and profit margins for our cotton farmers by creating awareness about right seeds and encouraging farmers to adopt modern technology and progressive agricultural practices. Appreciating the examples of good work done by some FPOs, CITI CDRA etc, he expects replication to achieve better results across the board.

Speaking at the meeting, Narendra Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare said that Growth of Cotton Production and Productivity is vital to employment growth in Country. He said that Short term and Long term strategies are needed to be worked out for boosting productivity. Mr. Tomar said that High Density farming and micro-irrigation are key to boosting cotton productivity in large parts of the nation.

In first of its kind meeting at the level of Union Ministers of Agriculture and Textiles both, core issues pertaining to cotton value chain were deliberated at length with outcome oriented targets assigned to Industry Captains and Govt Functionaries alike. Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary Textiles, Vijoy Kumar Singh, Special Secretary, Senior Officials from the Union Ministries of Textiles, Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Commerce, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Officials from Research and Development sector, Senior Officials from Corporations, farmers, seed industry and stakeholders were present. The whole of textile value chain was represented in the consultations through lead associations and experts in the meeting.