The Indian textile industry is one of the largest in the world with a large raw material base and manufacturing strength across the value chain.

In terms of area under use for cotton cultivation, India occupies the first rank in the world with around 119 lakh hectares. It appears as a surprise that this accounts for around 36 per cent of the total acreage under cotton harvesting globally. However, if we look at cotton yield, in India, it is only 450 kg per hectare. Based on this, one can estimate the total production of white fibre per annum at approximately 5.3 million tons.

If we look at the world’s best yield figure, China is the leader with cotton yield of 2014 kg per hectare. This country has only 28-lakh hectare of area for cotton crops and produces approximately 5.6 million tons a year.

So, if India can increase its cotton yield to the level at par with China, the scenario will get changed globally.

The Indian government is trying to gradually raise the productivity of cotton farmers from the average 450 kg per hectare to global levels of 1,500-2,200 kg per hectare. For this purpose, the textiles ministry, in association with the ministry of agriculture, is working on a pilot project for study on how to increase cotton yield.

Under the pilot project, the government has planned to shift cotton cultivation from disease infected area to disease free cultivable and irrigated area. In cotton disease infected area, some other crops can be cultivated in place of cotton. The government is also working on high plant density technique. Besides, improvement in soil testing, seed selection, transplanting and double cropping, and plant training can also help in increasing the yield.

If India succeeds in achieving a figure of 2,000 kg per hectare, the total yield may reach to 22 million tons per annum. In comparison, the total consumption of cotton per year worldwide is approximately 26 million tons. Therefore, it looks like India has potential to meet almost 80 per cent of the world’s cotton need alone.

The Indian textile industry has always been unhappy regarding volatile pricing of cotton. There is a continuous demand that the government set up a mechanism to keep the price stable. On the other hand, cotton-growing farmers complain of not getting the right price for their yield. If cotton prices shoot up, it becomes an unviable preposition for the industry to compete with rest of the world.

Hence, a right solution lies in increasing the cotton yield, which will benefit both the industry and the farmers. With 3 to 4 times more production, farmers will earn more even at a cheaper price. On the other hand, industry too will get the raw material at a cheaper price. There would also be a large stock available for export.

Hope India will write amazing success story in this field in the coming years.