He began by saying, “Since the Shankar-6 variety of raw cotton is grown particularly in Gujarat, trade marking is one way of protecting its identity and can by first done by designing a logo. If all the data required is available, it takes just a month's time to get the trade mark. This will help stop misuse of its identity by unscrupulous traders who market other varieties of cotton as Shankar– 6.
“This can be done by a Government of Gujarat body like the Gujarat State Co-operative Cotton Federation Ltd. (GUJCOT), by taking in to confidence all the stakeholders of Shankar–6 like farmers and ginners, as once Shankar-6 is trademarked and a farmer, ginner or cotton trader wants to sell his cotton as Shankar-6, he will have to sell the same under the umbrella of GUJCOT. My personal opinion is that first trade marking should be done, after which branding should be undertaken which will help to a large extent, the stake holders of Shankar–6”, he concluded by saying.
After having spoken to two experts, fibre2fashion called upon Mr Sharma, the Managing Director of GUJCOT. GUJCOT is the apex body of the Government of Gujarat for the cotton trade in the state. Mr Sharma it is said has cotton running in his blood, having worked for GUJCOT since more than two decades. When fibre2fashion spoke to him about the need to brand Shankar–6 raw cotton and increase its popularity, he replied by saying, “Raw cotton from other states is being branded as Shankar–6, which in turn is a loss for those involved in farming as well as trading of cotton in Gujarat.
“The luster of Shankar–6 is equivalent to fine Egyptian cotton, but in the category of long staple cotton of 28-30 mm length, it has the most competitive prices. However, we need to have a trade mark and a testing institute which can certify that the raw cotton is Shankar–6 cotton. In this initiative, we need to involve the government as it is not possible to go ahead without its consent.
“Recently, I had an interaction with state government officials and the government is also mulling trade marking Shankar–6. Secondly, Shankar–6 can be trade marked only by the Gujarat government as the seed was developed by a government agency. So, it would be better to globally brand Shankar–6 raw cotton, once it is trademarked. We are very much in favour of globally branding Shankar–6 as in the long run, it will favour the Gujarat cotton farmers, ginners and traders”, he wrapped up by saying.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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