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Dr K R Kranthi |
It is very heartening to note that cotton production and productivity have been increasing progressively year after year over the past five years, to reach a record 30.1 m bales in 2007. The enhancement in yields have been primarily due to several technological changes that have taken place since 2000, significantly related to the introduction of Bt-cotton, new cotton hybrids, novel pesticides, IRM, IPM and INM. Apart from these, increase in area in some states over the past five years, such as, about 8 lakh hectares additional cotton area in Gujarat, favourable weather conditions and extremely low bollworm infestation, have contributed to the rise in production. The role of farmers, scientists, private sector in introducing Bt-cotton, coupled with the role of Governmental agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology and ICAR, has been significant in taking cotton production to new heights.
Cotton is an immensely important crop for the sustainable economy of India and livelihood of the Indian farming community. It is cultivated in about 9.5 m hectares in the country, which accounts for 27% of the global cotton area and contributes to 20.5% of the global cotton produce, currently ranking second after China. India's contribution to global cotton production increased from 14% in 2002 to 20.5% in 2007. Cotton contributes to 30% of the Indian agricultural GDP (gross domestic product) and accounts for 30% of export earnings. India's growing cotton is having a perceptible impact on the global import-export scenario. For example, in the recent 3-4 years, India has emerged as a major cotton exporter with 6.5 m bale export in year 2006 of which 70-80% was exported to China as a result China has significantly reduced its cotton imports from the US at least by 12-14%. Commensurate to the decreasing export demands, the cotton area in US declined by 13.6% in 2007 compared to the preceding year. Apart from having a significant impact on the global market, cotton cultivation plays an important role in providing sustainable livelihood to a sizeable population in India. It is estimated that more than 4.0 m farmers cultivate cotton in India and about 3.0 m persons are employed directly by the textile industry. There are more than 1.7 m registered looms, 1500 spinning units, and an estimated 280 composite mills. Therefore cotton production in India is considered to have a wide reaching impact not only on the livelihood of farmers and economy of the country, but also on international trade.
Before 2001-02, when Indian cotton economy was in doldrums because of constant low production and productivity, nobody expected the kind of turn around that has been witnessed in just the past six years. After a decade of stagnation, cotton production and productivity increased spectacularly over the past 4-5 years. Cotton production had been stagnating at 15.0 to 17.7 m bales (bale = 170 kg lint) from 1995 to 2003. However, over the past five years there has been a significant leap in the production. During 2004 and 2005 India produced about 24.0 m bales each year, 27.0 m bales in 2006 and 31.0 m bales during 2007-08. Some perceptible changes that have occurred in the past five years include the introduction of more than 150-160 new cotton hybrids comprising of 135 Bt-cotton hybrids, increase in cotton area in Gujarat from 1.5 m ha to 2.4 m ha, increase in hybrid cotton area from 40% to 60%, introduction of 6 new insecticide molecules for bollworm control and 5 new insecticide molecules for sucking pest management. The new pesticides, new hybrids and Bt-cotton have been effectively contributing to the enhanced rate of production and productivity. Prominently, Bt cotton has been playing a major role in effectively protecting the crop from bollworms, especially the American Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera , thus preventing yield losses. Indian cotton farmers, who were vexed with the intractable problem of bollworms in cotton, responded positively and strongly supported the technology, to the extent that in the history of Agriculture, there has never been an example of such a rapid technology adoption ever before. It is, therefore, a matter of pride that despite a high level of illiteracy, the Indian cotton farmers have achieved such sterling success in improving productivity of cotton in recent years by timely adoption of appropriate technologies.
Clearly, India is poised for a breakthrough and is expecting to become a world leader in cotton. At this juncture it is important for all stakeholders to ensure that all adequate attention and support is given to the science and technology that confers sustainability to cotton production. We hope that collectively all of will strive to strengthen all aspects of cotton production and post harvest technologies so as to enable India become a strong economy, with happiness and cheer for the farming community.