National Cotton Conference
14-15th March, 2008 , New Delhiitorium, Todapur Road, Pusa Campus,

NASC Aud
       New Delhi - 110012

Food and Agriculture Forum (FAF)	MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF)

Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI)	Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR)

Cotton for Income and Livelihood Security

Cotton, the white gold, cultivated by over four million farmers, is the foremost industrial crop of India, accounting for nearly 30 % of India’s agricultural GDP. The textile sector, propelled primarily by cotton fibre, employs over 80 million people, the largest employer and income provider, second only to agriculture as a whole.

The development and adoption of BT hybrids has been central to this dramatic enhanced production and productivity, but the matter of concern lies in a relatively small diversity of genotypes in the field – 98 % of the production is contributed by about 25 varieties only. 

India has the largest area under cotton in the world - about 9 m ha or about 27 % of the world cotton area. Cotton production and textile economy of India have boomed in the post Multi Fibre Agreement era. In 2006-07, with a production of over 26 million bales (about 4.6 million tons), India has surpassed USA and become the 2nd largest cotton producer in the world, next only to China. This was achieved essentially through a substantial rise in productivity - up from about 300 kg/ha in 2001-02 to about 500 kg/ha in 2006-07. This has imparted a degree of confidence to cotton farmers who have been facing tormenting times in past.

The production of cotton, blended and 100 % non-cotton spun yarn has consistently been increasing due to increase in the spinning capacity. The production of cotton yarn is anticipated to be around 2300 m kg during 2000-2001, registering an average annual growth of 4.4 % during the last sixteen years. The dominant share in the spun yarn production is that of cotton yarn which accounted about 73% of total spun yarn production in the country, while the remaining 27% was in the form of blended and 100% non-cotton yarn. India exports about 25% of its total production of cotton yarn and commands an identical share in the global cotton yarn trade. 

1. Reducing post-harvest losses and promoting value addition, superior product quality and international acceptability of raw cotton as well as cotton based textile products.


2. Developing effective cotton policy to promote synergistic and sustained growth of productivity, farmers’ income, public-private partnership, export and overall country’s cotton economy.

In order to take a big leap forward and to capture new opportunities, Indian cotton industry must be rendered globally competitive by developing and pursuing:

a) new policies, strategies and technologies for strengthening and
b) synergizing production-processing-value addition-marketing chains.

Can the export and yield growth patterns of the past three years be sustained at least in the medium term so as not only to attain the world yield average of around 600 kg/ha, but also to match the yield levels of over 1000 kg/ha in high yield countries viz. China, Israel and USA? Can these gains help enhance income of the farmers and alleviate their acute distresses? :

With this backdrop, it is proposed to organize a national conference on “Cotton for Income and Livelihood Security” on 16 -17th November, 2007. The objective of this Conference is to develop a road map for cotton production in India with a focus on Income and Livelihood Security for the cotton farmer and chart an effective course for canalizing the uncommon opportunities that are globally emerging in the field of cotton textiles where there is immense scope for India to make an impact commensurate with its potentialities.

Participants: The participants at the conference would be officials of central and state governments, research and academic institutions, NGOs, experts, extension personnel corporate, financial institutions, banks, developmental organizations, representatives of international organizations, agribusiness companies, traders, exporters, and of course, farmers

Session I   Production systems

1. Bt hybrids as drivers of a production push in cotton
2. Consolidating production gains of cotton in India
3. Efficient nutrient / water management for sustainable cotton production
4. Cost effective IPM systems in cotton production
5. Quality considerations in cotton improvement
6. Cost effective & market linked production systems in cotton

Session II   Value addition

1. Harvest & post harvest handing of cotton
2. Market dynamics as related to production and quality
3. Cotton Yarn production & export perspectives
4. Technological innovations & vistas in raising cotton textiles production  
5. Improving India’s capacity & competitiveness in Cotton Blended textiles

Session III   Trade Issues 

1. Cotton yarn exports from India
2. Implications of China as the biggest market for Indian cotton
3. Capturing new markets for cotton / cotton blended textiles
4. Enlarging scope for value addition to cotton at home

Session IV    Cotton Policy

1. Import export policy on cotton in India
2. Strengthening production support systems
3. Effective role for risk managers and undertakers in cotton production
4. Effective market regulation
5. Cotton producer as partner in value addition / consumer chain

Patrons:

Organising Committee