With a view to lifting the sagging morale of the cotton sector, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a National Mission for Cotton Productivity’.

Presenting the Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26 in Lok Sabha on Saturday, the 5-year mission will facilitate significant improvements in the productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra-long staple cotton varieties.

The cotton sector in the country is beset with several challenges, including dwindling area and productivity. The crop, once used to be a dependable option for lakhs of farmers, is now faced with increased costs of production and unpredictable returns.

India’s cotton production is currently around 32 million bales, but the textile industry’s demand is projected to reach 45 million bales by 2026. This gap is increasingly difficult to close due to India’s cotton yield of 447 kg/ha, which is significantly lower than the global average of 787 kg/ha.

Cotton, a major commercial crop in India, comprises approximately 23% of global cotton production. It supports the livelihoods of about 60 lakh cotton farmers and 4-5 crore people involved in associated activities like processing and trade.

However, the sector faces challenges like acute labour shortages and seeds susceptible to pests and diseases. Some farmers want enhanced genetically modified cotton technologies to improve yields.

The area fell to 130 lakh hectares in 2022-23 from 134.77 lakh hectares four years ago. Productivity has also seen a huge decline over the last few years.

“The best of science & technology support will be provided to farmers. Aligned with our integrated vision for the textile sector, this will help increase farmers’ incomes, and ensure a steady supply of quality cotton for rejuvenating India’s traditional textile sector,” she said.

Ram Kaundinya, Advisor of the Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII), feels that the proposed cotton initiative comes at a crucial time. The gap between the growing demand from the Indian textile industry and domestic cotton production continues to widen.

“Addressing the decline in yields has become a matter of national urgency. Further, loss in yields due to weeds is significant at around 20 p.c. and the need to approve Herbicide Tolerance technology is an immediate need,” he said.

Alongside promoting extra-long staple cotton, the adoption of High-Density Planting Systems (HDPS) in cotton production could provide a 25-40 per cent yield increase compared to conventional methods.

Welcoming the move to start the National Mission on Cotton, M Ramasami, Chairman of Rasi Seeds, said the move would boost research for the development of technology for controlling Pink Worms and other bollworm complexes, molecular markers, and hybrids suitable for High-Density Planting with high lint output, which would increase lint production to exceed the global level.

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