The export market for Gujarat's cotton produce is looking up. After a Chinese business delegation purchased 7,000 cotton bales from Surendranagar district, several other countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Taiwan are lining up to buy at least 8,00,000 bales valued at approximately Rs 500 crore.
Reliable sources in the State Agriculture Department on Thursday said that the long staple cotton producers in Surendranagar, Junagadh, Rajkot and Bhavnagar districts have found not just domestic buyers, but heavy international buyers as well.
Last month, K P Cotton Group from China signed an agreement with a cotton ginning factory in Surendranagar for 7,500 cotton bales. The hybrid cotton from Gujarat is in great demand for textile mills in China's Hold Hongu and Aman regions.
According to a rough estimate prepared by the agriculture department, export of cotton from the state is likely to exceed 13 lakh bales by the end of February.
State agriculture Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma has claimed that this is the first time that such a huge quantity of cotton is being dispatched to countries like China and Pakistan and this is mainly because of the good quality of cotton grown in Saurashtra.
He said that the government had organised 1,800 workshops to educate farmers on improving quality of cotton and over 2,00,000 cotton growers attended these sessions. The export of cotton had been negligible all these years.
Cotton growers in the state are upbeat now with their produce selling at Rs 2,500 per quintal. Poor prices have forced farmers in cotton growing states to commit suicide in recent years.
A good rainfall and proper climate conditions, saw production touch 80 lakh bales this season as compared to 55 lakh bales earlier.
State Agriculture Secretary Kirit Shelat told TOI that the state's growth in the agriculture sector has risen to 11 per cent while the production per hector has increased to 421 kg as against 270 kg earlier.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
