Cotton in Bihar? The question marks could soon be a thing of the past. The Cotton Corporation of India has decided to explore possibilities of growing cotton in 20 districts of Bihar in the 2004-05 season as part of its efforts to promote the crop in non-traditional areas of the country.Initial trials found major North Indian cotton varieties thriving in Bihar, best known for its paddy crops. This is the state’s first encounter with the cotton, though historical records suggest that 40 years ago, Jharkhand grew negligible amounts of cotton.The CCI’s foray into non-traditional areas is part of its endeavour to increase the area and production of cotton in order to make the domestic production base more competitive. The CCI started a similar project in the Jammu recently.The current effort in Bihar follows the encouraging results obtained by the CCI while conducting trials last year in 20-25 acres of land in the state. ‘‘Our field trials were very encouraging and we see lot of potential in terms of cotton cultivation in the state,’’ said Dr A K Basu, Consultant, CCI.According to officials, the experimental project will spread over 1,600 acres in districts like Bhagalpur, Munger, Kathir, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Gaya, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Purnea, Madhubani and Siwan. All these areas are of a higher gradient and possibility of water logging are remote.In the given project, the corporation will not only provide a package of consultancy in terms of integrated cultivation and farm practices, including pesticide management and others, but also provide farmers with quality seed at substantially subsidised prices.The implementation will be carried out in association with the state agricultural department and agriculture universities. The Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur and the Krishi Vikas Kendra will be transfer the technology to the farmers.‘‘We have entered into an arrangement with farmers to buy back the entire produce so that they do not face any difficulty in selling their production at the initial stage,’’ said Dr Basu. The corporation has already initiated a process to impart training to district agriculture officials and farmers who will be participating in the project.The requirement of cotton by the country is expected to be 182 lakh bales.It is expected that with the present area, the production may decline to 200 lakh bales.
