The Hindu : Karnataka / Dharwad News : Educate farmers on cotton varieties: C.D. Mayee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 25, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Dharwad

Educate farmers on cotton varieties: C.D. Mayee

By Our Special Correspondent

DHARWAD, NOV. 24. C.D. Mayee, Commissioner, Union Ministry for Agriculture, has said that it was time for farmers to produce cotton varieties that were demanded by industries to produce fabrics that the customers wanted. He was speaking on "Cotton at the crossroads" at the centenary celebrations of the Agricultural Research Station, Dharwad, on Tuesday.

Dr. Mayee said that it was important to educate farmers about cotton varieties. Research strategy should be reoriented towards developing quality and specific hybrids and varieties, which could prove to be economically efficient. It was time that changes in marking, ginning, and spinning technologies received focus to ensure quality. The Government was trying to achieve the same through the technology mission on cotton, he added. The first mission was devoted to research, and it was possible to bring in arboretum and herbaceous improvements in cotton. The second mission concentrated on evolving a support system that could help State governments transfer technologies. This had resulted in an increase in the overall production from 130 lakh bales to 178 lakh bales last year. The figure was expected to cross 200 lakh bales this year, he added.

Biotechnology

Dr. Mayee said that for the first time, productivity had increased from 350 kg to 380 kg of lint per hectare and 9.5 lakh bales were being exported. The first genetically modified variety, Bt. (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton, had been produced. Almost 50 per cent of the nine million hectares under cotton cultivation would be covered by these varieties, he added.

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Educate farmers on cotton varieties: C.D. Mayee