The Cotton Association of India (CAI) is no longer a commodity exchange and, therefore, it has re-oriented its role to be a facilitator instead of a regulator, its president Atul S Ganatra has said. It has taken keen interest in streamlining fixing spot rates and value differences by revising the schedule for standard descriptions of Indian cotton.
Ganatra was speaking at the 97th annual general meeting of the association in Mumbai last month.The Cotton Association of India (CAI) is no longer a commodity exchange and, therefore, it has re-oriented its role to be a facilitator instead of a regulator, its president Atul S Ganatra has said. It has taken keen interest in streamlining fixing spot rates and value differences by revising the schedule for standard descriptions of Indian cotton.#
CAI has succeeded in completing the process of accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories for its Mumbai laboratory and the process of NABL accreditation of its Rajkot laboratory is nearing completion, he said.
It is also in advanced stage of completing the process of ISO certification of its remaining laboratories and its office, he said.
The association is ready to inaugurate a Farmers’ Training Centre set up in its Cotton Green premises for the benefit of farmers.
Cotton productivity level in India has increased from around 300 kg/hectare in 2002-03 to nearly 500 kg/hectare at present. However, it is still among the lowest in the world, Ganatra said. Even small countries like Syria, Myanmar and Pakistan have higher cotton productivity than India’s, he lamented.
Although Indian cotton has excellent intrinsic value, yet contamination, mixing, excess moisture due to pouring of water and poor bale packaging drastically reduce its value, he said.
Due to the poor quality of Indian cotton, textile mills here are forced to look for foreign cotton to cater to their needs. To overcome this challenge, the Indian government has decided to come up with a mission called ‘Nirmal Cotton Mission’ in line with the earlier Technology Mission on Cotton, he added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)