The SIMA Cotton Development and Research Association (SIMA CDRA) has urged the Tamil Nadu Government to increase the cotton production in Tamil Nadu from 5 lakh bales to 30 lakh bales per year.
The SIMA CDRA was established in 1974 by the Southern Indian Mills’ Association (SIMA).
A delegation of the SIMA CDRA consisting of its President R. Ravichandran, Chairman; G. Venkataramachandran, Deputy Chairman and Dr. Asha Rani, Secretary and Chief Cotton Breeder met the Minister for Handloom and Textiles, R. Gandhi and the senior officials in this regard.
The association has recommended giving more thrust for increasing the extra-long staple (ELS) cotton production and produce clean cotton at a lower cost using SIMA Kapas plucker.
The delegation also met the CMD of Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and submitted the proposals for increasing ELS cotton production and SIMA kapas plucker. The Association supplied 200 metric tonnes of ELS cotton seeds to the farmers in Tamil Nadu for the cotton season 2019-20 under the funding support extended by the Government of Tamil Nadu through CCI benefiting 50,000 farmers and produced 95,000 bales of high-quality ELS cotton that greatly benefited both the farmers and industry.
It is pertinent to mention here that Tamil Nadu, which accounts for 45 per cent spinning capacity of the country, consumes around 120 lakh bales of cotton per year and produces only around 5 lakh bales. The competitiveness of the state has eroded in the recent years due to the steep increase in transport costs.
Tamil Nadu spinning mills spend around Rs. 3 to Rs. 6 per kg of cotton to source from states like Telangana, Gujarat and Maharashtra.