Telangana expects rise in cotton production

The area under cotton cultivation is likely to increase by at least 20 per cent to 17.5 lakh hectares in Telangana during the current kharif season, compared to the fibre grown on 14.10 lakh hectares last year. As a result, cotton production in the state is expected to increase to around 19.15 lakh bales, minister for marketing, T Harish Rao has said.

He was speaking after the inauguration of the third branch of the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) in Telangana at Mahabubnagar. The CCI already has two offices at Adilabad and Warangal.

Earlier, during a review meeting with the officials of marketing department and the CCI, Rao requested CCI chairman and managing director MM Chockalingam to open 66 additional cotton purchase centres in the state, taking the number of collection centres to 150 from the present 84.

Rao said he has already put forward a request for opening more CCI collection centres to Union minister for textiles Smriti Irani earlier this month.

He also requested the CCI to take steps to ensure purchase of second quality cotton from the farmers as the crop would get discoloured after its picking in the rainy days.

The minister asked officials to make arrangements for procurement of cotton through e-NAM payment gateway and also for making payment to the farmers within 48 hours.

CCI stated that the corporation would set up 125 cotton quality testing labs across the country as part of the cotton technology mission. These labs could be set up either by the state governments or their agencies, while the Central government would provide equipment valued at Rs 1.5 crore per each lab with 90 per cent subsidy.