Indian Cotton Federation has reiterated its demand for a separate ‘Cotton Development Board’.

J Thulasidharan, President, ICF, said that a separate development board for cotton with a director to oversee crop production and prospects would go a long way in increasing the yield level of the white fibre.

“If correct advice and techniques are imparted to the farmer, cotton production can be enhanced by 50-70 per cent in the next three-five years. The traditional cotton varieties can also be revived,” he added.

To a query on farmers’ suicide, Thulasidharan said, “the incidence is peculiar to Vidharbha region. Farmers are taking to Bt cotton without getting farming techniques right. Bt requires precision farming.”

Citing reports, he said, “the problem seems to have been serious in certain parts of Andhra Pradesh because the crop developed resistance to pest; there were soil issues and host of related problems. There is environmental stress and it is not confined to the cotton crop,” the ICF President clarified, and pointed out that Maharashtra and Gujarat farmers preferred to grow cotton compared with any other crop.

“Cotton requires very little rain but water and input supplies at regular intervals. A Cotton Development Board would help in improving the crop prospects and overcoming the present challenges,” he said.

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