COIMBATORE: Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers Welfare, and Rural Development Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday emphasised that India should take every possible step like other nations to improve cotton productivity using modern technologies and by developing virus-resistant high high-yielding seeds.
“Scientists should work with commitment to ensure the timely delivery of such improved seeds to farmers. The BT cotton variety, once developed to increase yields, is now facing a threat from diseases, resulting in declining productivity. So, India lags in cotton production as compared to other countries,” he said, while speaking at a stakeholder consultation meeting on Enhancing Cotton Productivity, organised by ICAR India’s Central Institute for Cotton Research at the ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute in Coimbatore.
Stating that a cotton revolution is taking shape in Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to the welfare of farmers, who form the backbone of the Indian economy. “It’s our national goal to produce high-quality cotton to manufacture good-quality fabric. Producing high-quality cotton domestically to meet the nation’s requirement is both a challenge and a target that should be achieved,” he said.
Claiming that the textile industry often demands the removal of import duties to allow cheap foreign cotton, but farmers argue that it hampers local cotton production, Chouhan said the government must balance the interests of both farmers and industry.
At the meeting, Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh, Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate, Vice Chancellors of agricultural universities, scientists, and farmers participated. Earlier, Chouhan visited cotton fields and interacted with farmers. The objective of the meeting is to focus on strategies to increase cotton productivity, tackle virus infection, and ensure the availability of high-quality seeds to farmers.