The Government has said that it will make all possible efforts to increase cotton production as well as work for the welfare of cotton farmers. As India’s cotton yield is less than many other countries, there is a dire need to increase the same.
M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India; Piyush Goyal, The Union Minister of Textiles; Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles; and Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare shared their views on cotton production and assured about the support to the cotton farmers during their addresses at the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the ‘Confederation of Indian Textile Industry- Cotton Development and Research Association’ (CITI- CDRA) in New Delhi.
M. Venkaiah Naidu was the chief guest at the day-long event and Piyush Goyal delivered the keynote address during the inaugural session. Darshana Vikram Jardosh and Narendra Singh Tomar took part in the valedictory session.
Few farmers from various regions were also honoured for their effort to improve cotton production.
Training to the farmers, use of best quality seeds, initiating Technology Mission on Cotton 2.0, containment of cotton were some of the core points highlighted during the event.
Piyush Goyal expressed confidence that soon Europe, Canada, UK and GCC countries would also welcome Indian textile exports at zero duty.
The Minister said that he is aware of the high price of cotton and is looking at having a balanced approach with industry and farmers.
He said that the Indian textile industry has the potential to achieve US $ 100 billion in exports by 2030.
Referring to the theme of the event, ‘Kapas ki Adhik Upaj, Shudh Upaj’, he applauded CITI-CDRA for working towards developing a robust cotton ecosystem by directly engaging about 90,000 cotton farmers.
He asked textiles and apparel industry to focus on sustainability, and urged farmers to focus on natural methods of farming.
The event also saw various thought-provoking sessions like Cotton futures & importance of global contracts, next revolution in cotton farming, CITI-CDRA Cotton collaborative project – Kapas ki Adhik Upaj, Shudh Upaj; Meeting the needs of textile manufacturers: innovation and sustainability for cotton in the world supply chain.
Along with many experts and stalwarts from the industry, UP Singh, Secretary and Vijoy Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles were also part of these discussions.
T. Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI and other senior officials of CITI were also present in the event.
