Government has taken several measures for development of cotton sector and various facilities are provided by Government . Some of the major steps and facilities are indicated below:-

• Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing cotton development programme under National Food Security Mission (NFSM) in 15 major cotton growing states viz., Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal from 2014-15 with the aim to increase production and productivity. The assistance is being provided to the farmers on various types of demonstrations, trials on high density planting system, distribution of plant protection chemicals & bio agents, national & state level trainings. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs. 15.11 crores as central share has been allocated to States during 2022-23.

• To safeguard economic interest of cotton farmers and ensure adequate availability of cotton to the textile industry Govt. of India introduced a formula of 1.5 times of cost of production (A2+FL) for declaring MSP from 2018-19. For cotton season 2022-23, MSP of Fair Average Quality (FAQ) grade cotton had increased by about 6 % which has further been increased by 9% to 10% for ensuing cotton season 2023-24.

• To safeguard the cotton farmers from distress sales, Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is appointed as a Central Nodal agency for undertaking MSP operations when prices of Fair Average Quality grade seed cotton (kapas) fall below the MSP rates.

• Brand name for Indian cotton as “Kasturi Cotton India” was launched on 7th October 2020. MoU signed between CCI on behalf of Govt. of India and TEXPROCIL for Traceability, Certification and Branding of KASTURI Cotton India with Corpus fund of 30 crores by joint contribution of Industry and MoT over a period of 3 years during 2022-23 to 2024-25.

• Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has sanctioned a special project on cotton titled “Targeting technologies to agro-ecological zones-large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance cotton productivity” with a budget outlay of Rs. 41.87 crores under NFSM during 2023-24. This projects targets technologies such as High Density Planting System (HDPS), closer spacing and production technology for ELS cotton focusing on a cluster-based and value chain approach in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to farmers.

• Ministry of Textiles constituted Textile Advisory Group (TAG) on 25th May 2022 as an informal body which facilitates inter-Ministerial coordination and represents stakeholders from the entire cotton value chain to deliberate & recommend on the issues of productivity, prices, branding, etc.

• Cott-Ally mobile app has been developed for farmers to increase awareness about MSP rates, nearest procurement centers, payment tracking, best farm practices etc.

• Government ensures availability of Cotton to Textile Industry through a mechanism namely Committee on Cotton Promotion and Consumption (COCPC). COCPC keeps constant watch and reviews cotton scenario in the country and aptly advises the Government generally on matters pertaining to production and consumption of cotton.

 

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply today in the Lok Sabha.

 

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