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Mahesh

04/02/25 10:57 AM IST

ELS cotton

In News
  • Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announced a five-year mission to “facilitate significant improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra-long staple (ELS) cotton varieties.
Extra long staple cotton
  • Cotton is classified, based on the length of its fibres, as long, medium, or short staple.
  • Gossypium hirsutum, which constitutes roughly 96% of the cotton grown in India, falls in the medium staple category, with fibre lengths ranging from 25 to 28.6 mm.
  • On the other hand, ELS varieties boast fibre lengths of 30 mm and above.
  • Most ELS cotton comes from the species Gossypium barbadense, commonly known as Egyptian or Pima cotton.
  • Having originated in South America, ELS cotton today is mainly grown in China, Egypt, Australia, and Peru.
  • In India, some ELS cotton is grown along rain fed parts of Atpadi taluka in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, and around Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
  • Fabric produced using ELS cotton is of the highest quality.
  • This is why brands producing top-of-the-line fabrics mix a small quantity of ELS with medium staple cotton to improve quality.
  • More than 90% of the 20-25 lakh bales — each bale contains 170 kg of de-seeded ginned and pressed cotton.
Why not grown in India?
  • For the 2024-25 season, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of medium staple cotton was Rs 7,121 (per quintal) while that of long staple cotton was Rs 7,521.
  • Nonetheless, cotton farmers in India have thus far been reluctant to adopt ELS cotton.
  • This is mainly due to lower than average per acre yields, experts say.
  • While the medium staple variety yields between 10 and 12 quintals per acre, ELS cotton has a yield of only 7-8 quintals.
  • Additionally, farmers growing ELS cotton are often unable to market their premium produce at premium prices.
  • The market linkages necessary are not available easily.
  • Currently, India’s per acre yields are significantly lower than other countries.
  • For instance, Brazil boasts an average yield of 20 quintals per acre, while China boasts a yield of 15 quintals.
  • Better seeds, timely agronomic advice, and adoption of technology would help India improve in this regard, and grow premium varieties such as ELS cotton.
Source- Indian Express

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