SICA to double ELS cotton production

In a move to promote the Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton, the South India Cotton Association (SICA) plans to increase the area under cultivation of ELS Bt cotton at its model farm, from the present 10,000 acres to 50,000 acres, by next year. With this, the production, which is nine lakh bales a year at present, is expected to double.

"We propose to hold Front Line Demonstration (FLD) on cotton farming for select group of cotton farmers from Warangal and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by January 2006," K N Viswanathan, secretary of SICA told Business Standard. The association has already conducted FLD for farmers in and around Coimbatore.

The FLD will emphasise on implementing the farming techniques to increase the acreage of Sara II, the ELS cotton variety, funded and developed by Super Spinning Mills, a Coimbatore based textile company, under its own R&D effort.

The cotton farming groups, which would be drawn from the cotton cultivating regions of the neighbouring states, would be supported with all inputs on quality seeds and crop management practices. This will inspire them to start the ELS cotton cultivation in their areas, Viswanathan added.

SICA, in association with the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA), is also planning to set up a Cotton Agro Foundation which will focus on cotton contract farming and establish links with the government funding organisations for cultivation of the crop.