We are trying to gradually raise the productivity of Indian cotton farmers: Textile secretary
cotton farmers to the global level, it said on Wednesday.
“We are trying to gradually raise the productivity of Indian cotton farmers from the average 450 kg per hectare to global levels of 1,500-2,200 kg per hectare,” said Rachna Shah, textile secretary.
The evaluation of the study, which started last year and covers 15,000 farmers across ten major textile-producing states, will be available in January 2024.
The ministry noted that it will be featuring more such innovations at the 81st Plenary Meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), which will be held in Mumbai from December 2-7.
The ministry pointed out that the focus for the conference hosted by India, after nearly eight years, will be on local innovations and cutting-edge technologies which can have global implications for the cotton value chain.
The ministry also plans to launch India’s premium cotton, “Kasturi cotton”, at the inter-governmental event featuring participants from 28 member countries and seven invitee countries.
“ICAC will be a platform to present Kasturi cotton before the global audience.
There are three pillars to the premium product: branding, traceability and certification,” the secretary stated.
“We are using blockchain to establish traceability of Kasturi cotton,” she further noted, pointing out that the ministry will also deploy QR codes for consumers to track the entire process from procurement.
India is trying to establish a name in premium cotton to compete with Giza cotton from Egypt and Suprima cotton grown in the United States.
“The launch of the ‘Kasturi Cotton Bharat’ brand marks the country’s foray in providing complete end-to-end traceability and transparency solutions using Blockchain technology across
