more-in The Indian Cotton Federation has stressed on the need for all stakeholders to focus on quality of cotton. J, Thulasidharan, president of the federation, said at its annual meeting on Sunday that grading of cotton needs a closer look. “Only when quality is assured we can move to the next stage of branding of Indian cotton. Contamination needs to be controlled at every stage,” he said. Further, packing of cotton needs to be standardised. Ginners use different kinds of packing, he pointed out. The Government should look at the possibility of bar coding cotton bales. Cotton farmers need to adopt better irrigation systems to conserve water. The Government and banks should come forward to fund cotton purchase. Mr. Thulasidharan said the Cotton Advisory Board had estimated the cotton production this cotton season from October 2017 to September 2018 to be 370 lakh bales. For the next season (2018-2019), farmers have shown more interest in cotton. However, due to pink bollworm and pest attacks, the volume of the crop is expected to be between 360 lakh bales and 380 lakh bales. “As of now, the supply position will be able to meet the demand for cotton at the current spindleage. Regarding prices, they were on steady to firm levels,” he said.

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