The Hindu : Front Page : Vision document to revive ELS production

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 21, 2006

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Vision document to revive ELS production

M. Soundariya Preetha

`A final draft statement will be presented to the Centre soon'

COIMBATORE: Confederation of Indian Textile Industry and Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) have prepared a vision statement to give a boost to cultivation of Extra Long Staple (ELS) variety of cotton in the country.

"We have sought assistance to rejuvenate the existing varieties," said the SIMA chairman, S. V. Arumugam. A final draft of the statement would be presented to the Centre soon.

Mr. Arumugam noted that the country produced 2.6 lakh bales of ELS cotton annually as against the demand for nine lakh bales. The mills were importing the remaining quantity. "The shortage is managed with imported cotton, the price of which is likely to increase abnormally in the future." With India accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the global share in fine and superfine yarn, the demand for ELS cotton would only increase in future to about 15 lakh bales by 2010. India used to produce over 10 lakh bales of the ELS variety and another 13 lakh bales of MCU5 in the 1980s. However, the area under ELS cultivation now was just two lakh hectares.

Mr. Arumugam said 12 ELS hybrid cottons and Suvin were available now to increase production. Rejuvenation of these varieties would help scale up the area to seven to eight lakh hectares by 2010.

Hence, the association had suggested both short and long term measures. It called for establishment of an ELS Mission Directorate as a public-private partnership enterprise, and a budgetary allocation of Rs. 50 crore. The directorate should co-ordinate with all cotton research agencies and the industries to increase production and improve the quality. This would also ensure availability of fine and superfine count yarn at a competitive price to the local handloom sector and meet the demands of the export market.

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