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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget on Saturday, announced a five-year mission to “facilitate significant improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra-long staple (ELS) cotton varieties”.
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,” Bhausaheb Pawar, a senior research assistant with the Mahatma Phule Krishi Mahavidyalay in Ahmednagar, told The Indian Express.
He added that the 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, said Pradeep Jain, founder-president of the Khandesh Gin Press Factory Owners and Traders Development Association. “More than 90% of the 20-25 lakh bales — each bale contains 170 kg of de-seeded ginned and pressed cotton — of the fibre that we annually import constitutes ELS cotton,” Jain said.
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,” said one trader.
“The best science & technology support will be provided to farmers,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.
With the cotton ecosystem plagued by low per-acre yields, and increased pest attacks, adoption of the latest technologies would be a welcome step, Jain said. “What we need is the farmer to access the latest in GM [genetic modification] technology,” he said.
Farmers in Maharashtra have long demanded that they be allowed to cultivate the herbicide-resistant HtBT cotton, which is illegal at present. This would significantly help with weed management.
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.
