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TN cotton council meeting today -- Waste-land development, seed production issues may figure

Our Bureau

COIMBATORE, Aug. 15

DEVELOPING waste land for cotton cultivation and enhancing certified seed production are the issues expected to figure prominently in the sixth Tamil Nadu State Cotton Council meeting slated to be held in Chennai on Thursday.

Bringing additional area under cotton in the State is hanging fire because of the delay in framing suitable legislative guideline on waste-land development for raising cotton, a subject frequently debated without a solution. The issue would be pursued v igorously at tomorrow's meeting, sources in the cotton trade/industry here say.

Similarly, the issue of improving the certified seed ratio /hybrid varieties would also be put to intense debate at the meeting. The sixth state cotton council meeting is being held in the backdrop of a general disinterest seen among diverse cotton inte rest groups in Tamil Nadu on the slow progress made by the State's intensive cotton development programme under the cotton council's scheme of things.

One of the factors responsible for the remorseful attitude is the continued widening gap between production of certified seed and its demand as well as the slow spread of the hybrid seed usage. The lack of cohesion between agencies involved in seed deve lopment, extension network at one end and farmers and the user industries at the other end is another nagging issue to be addressed.

Another disturbing factor for the state's cotton council will be the sliding crop area in the state over the years. As per the figures available, the cotton crop area during the year 2000-2001 stood at 1.94 lakh hactares which is said to be 22 per cent less than the normal cotton area in the State. The cotton area in Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi districts had distinctly declined.

The State agriculture department move to take up trial farming of some of the cotton varieties that have fared well in other States will be discussed at the meeting. It has been proposed by the department to conduct laying of varieties such as G.Cot, RG- 8, NCS-145 (Bunny), L-603, L-604, PHH-316 (Ganga) and JK-276 (Sahana) in the cotton belts in Thoothukudi, Theni, Tirunelveli, dharmapuri, Erode and Perambalur districts.

The proposals from the Central Institute of Cotton Research, Coimbatore on popularising medium staple cultivar 'Sumangala' and the long-staple new strain 'Surabhi' which are found giving higher yeild than the LRA-5166 and MCU-5 varieties would come for discussion.