Dying Cotton Fields in India, Vidarbha being First Victim of the Crisis - STUDY & REPORT ON COTTON SCENARIO

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI
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Dying Cotton Fields in India,

Vidarbha being First Victim of the Crisis

Study & Report on Cotton Scenario

In light of the agrarian crisis being witness in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra State, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, a farmers movement in the State of Maharashtra, has conducted a study of the Cotton Crisis and prepared this detailed Report of the Compilation of data and issues based on same.

It has now been un doubtfully established that the cultivation of BT cotton in rain fed areas is extremely disastrous to the cotton cultivating farmer in Vidarbha and also in the rest of India as the high cost of production is killing the fields.

The agrarian crisis are increasing year by year, Vidarbha being 1^st victim of the crisis where more than 5000 unfortunates farmers have killed themselves. Thousands are on the verge of suicide. Entire Rural Vidarbha is reeling under the depression and the farmers community atlarge are loosing their hopes in the life, taking unfortunate extreme steps of suicides.

Government, Administration – Bureaucrats, Politicians and so-called Rulers all are least interested in the crisis.

May God save them,………………. The only hope we can cherish !

BACKGROUND

In India – for Vidarbha, the cotton is considered as White Gold, since long, being the only Cash Crop available to the lacs of farmers in the region. Cotton is considered as the kind of apperal fibre. The antiquity of Indian cotton can be traced from excavation of Mohanjo Daro representing Indian civilization of 3000 BC.

In 17^th century, during the English empire the Indian cotton ‘Decca Muslins’ was exported for weaving fine fabrics and was fashioned in England.

India has been the traditional home of cotton and cotton textiles. Indian economy has been consistently influenced and boosted by cotton through its production and processing sectors and by generating direct and indirect employment to nearly 80 million people and by annual addition to national wealth through export earning of over Rs. 45,000 crores.

There are only four cultivated species of cotton from which spinnable fibres can be obtained and India is the only country where four species are under cultivation at field level. The diploid cotton also known as Deshi cotton (G. arboreum and G. herbaceum) are mainly cultivated in dry land tracts.

G. hirsutum is known as the American cotton and most popular varieties and hybrids now under cultivation belong to this group.

G. barbadense is popularly known as the Egyptian cotton and is grown in small area in India particularly in south zone. India is the first and so far the only country, that grows hybrid cotton both intra species and inter specific on commercial scale.

Global Scenario

The world cotton area and production are estimated at around 30-31 million hectares and 20 million tons respectively.

· The biggest cultivators of cotton are America, India, China, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan and Eastern Europe, with China, US and India being the three largest producers of cotton.

· US has a considerable share in world exports. India and China both fall short of their domestic requirement and are net importers.

· Among the consumers China leads the way being followed by India, Pakistan, US and Turkey.

· In developed and newly industrialized countries, spinners are highly vulnerable to growing imports of “downstream” textiles and apparel. Spinners also face growing competition from filament yarns and non wovens.

· Major players in textile are China, India, Pakistan, USA, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Israel, European Union and Mauritius.

World cotton supply and distribution

	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06
	Million tons			Million Bales
Production	20.430	22.58	21.99	93.83	103.7	101.0
Consumption	21.145	21.51	21.86	97.12	98.8	100.4
Exports	7.129	6.58	6.93	32.74	30.2	31.8
Ending Stocks	7.996	9.07	9.20	36.73	41.6	42.3

India is the third largest producer of cotton and its derivatives in the world. The country is responsible for the origination and domestication of the cotton crop. India has the maximum area under cotton cultivation estimating up to around 9.50 million ha. i.e. 21% share in the world. The northern areas in the country provide with mostly short and medium staple cotton, central areas provide with long and medium staple cotton and the southern areas largely with long staple cotton. The quantity of production of cottonseeds in India is around 5.68 million tons.

The above-mentioned states cover around 95% area under cotton cultivation as well as output in India. Maharashtra followed by Andhra Pradesh and Haryana are the largest cotton producing states of the country. Regarding the cottonseed oil, around 80% of the cottonseed produced in the country is crushed to obtain oil. The meal produced after the extraction of oil from the seeds sums up to around 2 million tons. Like the fluctuations in the world production of cottonseed, Indian production also fluctuates every year. Also, the productivity of cotton in India is quite low as compared to the productivity of the crop in the rest of the world.

Indian Cotton Market

Cotton has been a traditional crop in India as it has been grown here since it has been domesticated. It constitutes to around 60% of the fiber consumed in the textile sector of the country. This sector is also very important for the country as it provides a large number of employment opportunities and also contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic product of the country. The country stands first among the countries having the maximum area under cultivation of cotton and place third in the list of cotton producing countries.

India produces around 35 million tons of cottonseed in a year. Maharashtra is the leading cotton producing state in the country with a production of around 6 lakh tons. The cottonseed meal is produced in the country to the context of 2 million tons. The area on which cotton is produced is around 9.50 million hectares in India. The yield per hectare in India is very low as compared to the other producing countries of the world. The country consumes all of the cotton produced in the country and ranks among the largest cotton consuming countries. The main demand comes from the textile sector.

Market Influencing Factors

* Relationship with other competitive fibers.

* World demand for consumer textile and demand from the cattle feed industry in the country.

* Discovery of new cotton markets.

* Introduction of new and developed technology.

* Fluctuations in domestic cotton production.

* Delays in the arrival of cottonseed for crushing.

* Price and other policies of the government regarding the cotton sector

* Import export scenario in the country.

* Fluctuation in currency value.

Cotton imports in India – (1996-97 onwards)

Year	Quantity (in lakh bales of 170 kgs.)	Value (Rs./Crores)
1996-97	0.30	56.42
1997-98	4.13	497.93
1998-99	7.87	772.64
1999-00	22.01	1967.92
2000-01	22.13	2029.18
2001-02	25.26	2150.01
2002-03	17.67	1789.92
2003-04	7.21	880.10
2004-05	12.17	1338.04
2005-06	4.00	565.21
2006-07 (A)	6.00	NA
Source : Cotton Advisory Board for Quantity figures

Cotton exports in India – (1996-97 onwards)

Year	Quantity (in lakh bales of 170 kgs.)	Value (Rs./Crores)
1996-97	16.82	1655.00
1997-98	3.50	313.62
1998-99	1.01	86.72
1999-00	0.65	52.15
2000-01	0.60	51.43
2001-02	0.50	44.40
2002-03	0.83	66.31
2003-04	12.11	1089.15
2004-05	9.14	657.34
2005-06	47.00	3712.21
2006-07 (A)	48.00	NA
Source : Cotton Advisory Board for Quantity figures

Present & future : rising demands

Requirement of Cotton Quality and Quantity in 2010 AD

* In the past two decades India has become fully self sufficient in her cotton requirements both quantity wise and quality wise.

* The total production in recent years has reached 270 lakh bales.

* Besides meeting the requirements of the domestic textile industry and other sectors, the country has also been able to export sizeable quantity of raw cotton.

* Export of raw cotton together with export of spun yarns, sowing threads, fabrics, made-ups, garments etc., constitutes a major foreign exchange earning source for our country.

* The demand for renewable natural fibre like cotton for apparel use is increasing in recent years all over the world and therefore there is good potential for exporting raw cotton & cotton based textile items from our country.

* Several export oriented units for yarns and made-ups have been established in the country.

* Therefore, we have to increase our production to meet these requirements as well as the requirements of our own increasing population.

* In the past, cotton consumption in our country used to be listed under only two heads – viz. (i) mill consumption (composite and spinning mills) and (ii) non-mill consumption.

* The quantity consumed under the latter head in recent years is estimated to be about 8 lakh bales and is used for various purposes like stuffing of mattresses, preparation of surgical/absorbent cotton, etc.

* One more source of cotton consumption has been identified – viz. small scale spinning units which use about 5 lakh bales of cotton every year.

* It is essential that both the non mill consumption and consumption by small scale spinning units is expected to go up in 2010 AD.

* Taking into consideration all the above factors, the total cotton requirement is estimated to be about 350-400 lakh bales.

Future cotton requirements

Various factors to be considered in estimating future requirements are :

Per capita consumption of cloth in India

At present, the average consumption of cloth per person per year is about 20 square meters, although the present policy of liberalization in economy and trade is supposed to bring more prosperity and improve the living standards of our population, considering the vast population whose living standard is very poor, it is presumed that increase in per capita cloth consumption, if any, would be very marginal.

Trend in mill consumption of cotton

Mill consumption of cotton has increased substantially over the past 2-3 decades. For the last few years, the rate of annual increase is about 6 percent and this trend is likely to continue till the turn of the century at which time the mill consumption of cotton would be 240 lakh bales. Export of Cotton Textile Materials.

Area under cotton (lakh ha)

Particular	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
India	85.28	81.48	85.93	73.90	76.14	90.80	88.17	91.32
Maharashtra	32.53	27.93	29.80	26.17	27.66	30.49	27.60	31.24
Vidarbha	15.21	15.75	16.02	14.25	17.50	14.00	12.50	13.60

Cotton production (00 lakh bales)

Particular	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
India	161.50	167.00	153.00	158.00	140.00	232.00	242.50	270.00
Maharashtra	38.00	24.00	34.25	26.00	31.00	52.00	48.00	55.00
Vidarbha	15.38	9.44	12.70	12.92	17.00	24.00	24.00	24.00

Cotton Productivity (lint kg/ha)

Particular	1999-00	2000-01	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
India	333	319	309	322	476	440	468	503
Maharashtra	260	149	154	169	191	290	271	299
Vidarbha	197	120	142	155	171	225	326	300

State wise Area, Production & Productivity of cotton (lint kg/ha)

Year	2003-04			2004-05			2005-06			2006-07
State	Area	Prod	Yield	Area	Prod	Yield	Area	Prod	Yield	Area	Prod	Yield
Punjab	4.52	10.35	389	5.09	16.50	551	5.57	21.00	610	5.88	26.00	752
Haryana	5.26	11.50	372	6.21	15.50	424	5.83	14.00	379	5.33	17.00	542
Rajasthan	3.44	9.15	452	4.38	11.00	427	4.71	11.00	397	3.50	8.00	389
North total	13.22	31.00	399	15.68	43.00	466	16.11	46.00	464	14.71	51.00	589
Gujarat	16.47	50.00	516	19.06	73.00	651	19.06	89.00	794	23.90	93.00	662
Maharashtra	27.66	31.00	191	28.40	52.00	311	28.75	36.00	213	31.24	52.00	283
Madhya Pradesh	5.91	19.65	565	5.76	16.00	472	6.20	18.00	494	6.30	18.00	486
Andhra Pradesh	8.37	27.40	557	11.78	32.50	469	10.33	30.00	527	9.62	32.00	565
Karnataka	3.13	4.20	228	5.21	8.00	261	4.13	6.50	268	3.70	6.00	276
Tamil Nadu	1.03	3.75	619	1.29	5.50	725	1.40	5.50	668	1.33	5.00	639
South Total	12.53	35.35	480	18.28	46.00	428	15.86	42.00	472	14.65	43.00	499
Others	0.51	1.00	333	0.68	1.00	250	0.79	1.00	215	0.78	1.00	218
Total	76.30	179.00	399	87.86	243.00	470	86.77	244.00	478	91.32	270.00	503

Essential Parameters for quality fibre

Sr. No.	Count Range	Range of 2.5% SL (mm)	Minimum value of UR (%)	Minimum Tenacity (g/t)	Minimum Breaking Elongation (%)	Range of Micronaire	Minimum maturity
1	6s – 12s	22-23	50	20	6.0	4.5-5.0	80
2	14s – 18s	24-25	50	21	6.0	4.0-4.5	80
3	20s – 24s	25-26	50	23	6.0	4.0-4.5	80
4	25s – 30s	26-27	50	24	7.0	3.8-4.5	80
5	31s – 40s	28-29	50	25	7.0	3.8-4.5	80
6	41s – 50s	29-31	48	26	7.0	3.8-4.5	80
7	51s – 60s	31-33	48	28	7.0	3.8-4.2	80
8	61s – 80s	33-34	48	29	7.0	3.7-4.0	80
9	81s – 100s	35-36	48	31	7.0	3.6-3.8	80
10	101s – 120s	36-38	48	32	7.0	3.5-3.8	80

Staple-wise production of cotton

(lakh bales of 170 kgs)

STAPLE GROUP	01-02	02-03	03-04	04-05	05-06
Short (below 20.0 mm)	9.50	9.00	7.60	7.11	7.00
Medium (20.5 to 25.5 mm)	82.50	72.00	75.90	136.80	65.00
Medium Long (26.0 to 27.5 mm)	61.00	51.00	89.95	94.07	42.00
Long (28.0 to 33.5 mm)					125.00
Extra Long (34 mm & above)	5.00	4.00	5.55	5.02	5.00
Total	158.00	136.00	179.00	243.00	244.00
Note : Staple-group-wise production figures are estimated

Staple-wise mill consumption of cotton

(Lakh bales of 170 Kgs each)

Staple Group	2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Short (below 20.0 mm)	6.96	5.99	5.93	5.16
	(4.73)	(4.20)	(3.94)	(3.15)
Medium (20.5 to 25.5 mm)	38.57	38.05	36.29	50.4
	(26.24)	(26.72)	(24.13)	(30.80)
Medium Long (26.0 to 27.5 mm)	23.46	25.10	22.96	22.43
	(15.96)	(17.62)	(15.27)	(13.71)
Long (28.0 to 33.5 mm)	47.67	53.02	70.30	71.57
	(32.43)	(37.23)	(46.74)	(43.74)
Extra Long (34 mm & above)	4.09	4.17	4.42	4.02
	(2.78)	(2.93)	(2.94)	(2.46)
Total Indian Cotton	120.75	126.33	139.90	153.58
	(82.14)	(88.70)	(93.02)	(93.86)
Foreign Cotton	26.25	16.09	10.49	10.05
	(17.86)	(11.30)	(6.98)	(6.14)
Grand Total	147.00	142.42	150.39	163.63
	(100%)	(100%)	(100%)	(100%)
SSI Mills	11.70	11.63	12.99	16.38
Note : Figures in bracket indicate percentage to the total

YIELD GAP IN COTTON PRODUCTIVITY

Crop	Potential Yield	FLD Yield	Actual Yield (Kg/Ha)
			1995-96	2004-05	2005-06
COTTON	627	292	186	173	156

Production constraints of cotton in Vidarbha Region

The study conducted and a data available shows following production constraints of cotton in Vidarbha Region :-

Ø Predominantly rain fed area about 97%.

Ø Lack of irrigation facility even for protective irrigation during dry spell.

Ø Inadequate availability of good quality certified cottonseed.

Ø Growing of cotton on shallow and medium deep soils with wider spacing.

Ø Being rain fed area farmers are reluctant to take the risk for application of proper dose of fertilizers and recommended plant protection measures.

Ø Majority of cotton growers rely on credit for inputs being resource poor.

Ø Late sowing of cotton due to late receipt of monsoon rains as cotton crop is grown under totally rain fed situation.

Ø Heavy rains during early growth stage may affect the yields due to water lodging and timely intercultural and plant protection measures could not be undertaken.

Ø Dry spell during flowering stage results in shedding of squares due to development of cracks in the soil.

Ø Dry spell during boll development stage result in reduction of productivity as well as quality.

Ø New emerging pests problems like mealy bug.

BT COTTON

State-wise Area of BT Cotton in India (Lakh ha)

State	2004	2005	2006	2007
Maharashtra	2.0	5.9	20	25.41
Gujarat	1.3	1.5	3.3	5.1
Madhya Pradesh	0.85	1.45	3.10	4.8
Andhra Pradesh	0.80	2.80	6.76	7.32
Karnataka	0.18	0.30	0.80	0.75
Tamil Nadu	0.10	0.25	N / A	0.15
Northern Zone (Punjab, Hr, Raj)	N / A	0.60	3.25	3.75
Total	5.00	13.00	37.21	44.28

FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FOR THE AREAS TO BE EXPLORED

Ø Efficient transfer of technology.

Ø Agronomic manipulations to reduce cost of cultivation for developing efficient genotypes suitable to shallow soils.

Ø Efficient pest control strategies.

Ø Expanding irrigation area for meeting additional production.

Ø Purchase price of seed cotton should be based on cost of cultivation.

Ø Crop insurance facilities.

Ø Organic cotton farming.

ORGANIC FARMING

Ø Holistic production system.

Ø Harmony with nature.

Ø Avoids chemical fertilizer, pesticides etc.

PURPOSE

Ø Good Soil, Good Food, Good Health, good Environment, Good Business.

Ø Movement from Farmers, NGOs etc.

MERITS

Ø Environmentally Friendly Technology.

Ø Reduction in Cost of Cultivation.

Ø Management of Insecticide Resistance.

Ø To reduce the load on the central & state level procurement system.

Ø To increase private sector investment in agriculture.

Ø To bring about a market focus in terms of crop selection by Indian Farmers.

Ø To generate a steady source of income at the individual farmer level.

Ø To promote processing & value addition.

Ø To generate gainful employment in rural communities, particularly for landless agricultural labour.

Ø To reduce migration from rural to urban areas.

GREAT HAZARDS : Indirect Consequences of Bt-Cotton

It has been observed that there are great indirect consequences of BT cotton which are ruining the Rural Economy on entire Vidarbha. The situation is same in all the parts of Cotton cultivating areas in India.

1. Insecticide use not declined; Miscellaneous insects of minor importance such as bugs & weevils are creating hell of problems.
2. Increased pyrethroids: Pink bollworm (Lalya) & Spodoptera has re-emerged again. H. armigera & whitefly not taken backseat, as claimed by the BT seed manufacturer.
3. Susceptibility of sucking pests – because of susceptible exotic donor parent!!
4. Reduction in efforts for conventional breeding approaches for pest management.
5. Shift in focus; away from research on other pest management methods.

GREAT Constraints of Bt-Cotton in Vidarbha

The KILLER BT HAS SHOWN FOLLOWING CONSTRAINTS IN VIDARBHA, the situation is identical in other cotton growing parts of india :

i) Seed Cost:

In Vidarbha 98% cotton is cultivated as rainfed crop with 90 x 60 cm spacing for hybrids which requires increased seed rates, ultimately resulted into high seed cost. The price of Bt Cotton seed is Rs.1600-1800 / 450 gm. In turns increasing cost of production.

ii) Bt gene Expression:

Expression of Bt gene lowers down after 100-120 days as reported by CICR, Nagpur. If this will be the case, sprays will be needed on Bt cotton to control pink bollworms as it major pest of rainfed cotton. And its incidence observes from 1^st week of October till the end of crop at increasing trend up to 90% on non Bt Cotton. In turns increasing cost of production.

iii) Resistance of Bollworm to Bt gene:

Bt Cottons are released for cultivation with the condition that 20% area of non Bt Cotton as Refugia should be planted around Bt Cotton field but most of the farmers not following this practice. In turns increasing cost of production.

iv) Sprays for sucking pests required on Bt Cotton:

The gene in Bt cotton is to control the Bollworm only. Hence, sprays to control sucking pests are required to be undertaken. Not only this, but if bollworm damage increases beyond ETL on Bt Cotton, sprays are needed. That mean, use of chemical insecticides will be there. In turns increasing cost of production.

v) Illegal Bt Cotton seeds:

Farmers are getting illegal (Spurious) Bt Cotton seed at lower price. Being rainfed area farmers prefer for this low priced seed which need to be checked through frequent and serious vigilance.

FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL SPURIOUS / BOGUS BT COTTON SEEDS :

It has been observed that the Government has failed to implement the provisions of Seed Control Order, 1983 issued under provisions of Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and therefore the checks/ controls over spurious / bogus seeds was not possible and the offenders have not been booked, though they are openly sitting the poor and illeterate farmers.

Government is not taking any interest in implementing the statutory provisions of the Act and the Control order issued by the Parliament and thus there is great collusion between the Government, Administration and the Offender to loot the poor farmers.

IMPURITIES IN COTTON

Foreign matter, stickiness and see-coat fragments in raw cotton continue to be among the most serious problems affecting the cotton spinning industry world-wide. Cotton is seriously contaminated by organic matter, like leaves, feathers, leathers, hairs, plastic, strings, and pieces of fabrics made of jute, woven plastic, cotton and plastic film, sand, dust, grease, oil, rust, metal, wire, stamp colour, rubber.

The most contaminated descriptions continue to originate in India, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In contrast, clean cottons can be found in Israel, Zimbabwe, Argentine and Australia.

Stickiness is declining in cotton from 23 to 20% and seed coat fragments rising from 32% to 38%. The problem remains serious in India and Turkey. The seed coat fragments is negligible in Australia, USA and Israel cotton.

This in depth Study Report is prepared, Compiled & submitted by the Strong Team of 500 Social Workers devoted almost one year for preparing the report special thanks to Shri Prakash Pohare, the Editor in Chief of Deshonati Group of Newspapers for the Data and statistic made available from the various reference books and journal including study reports on Scenario published / circulated by renowned Agricultural Universities in India and other Research Institution in the field of Cotton Research & Development in India.

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI