Cotton Conclave Planned at Avinashi ..
A cotton conclave by the trade, textile industry, research bodies from Coimbatore has chalked out a programme to reach out to farmers in the region to step up cultivation in Tamil Nadu. The first of the series of such cotton conclave planned is scheduled to take place with the cotton farmers of Avinashi, some 40 km from here on May 12. Avinashi cotton belt raises largely the medium staple Bunni and MCU-5 varieties and bulk of the cotton produced there are rainfed. The meet is intended to motivate the farmers on increasing yield.The programme, being organised by the South India Cotton Association (SICA) in concurrence with other regional cotton bodies such as the SIMA's cotton development and research association (SIMA-CDRA) and Cotton Corporation of India, will expose the Avinashi farmers to the advent of technology in areas such as soil, crop, pest managements and also potential of marketing cotton for the textile mills.
Though the cotton trade bodies here used to have interface in the past with the growers by bringing the latter to their meetings, this is the first time these associations have chosen to go to the growers' centre to widen their contact with the farming community. Mr K.N. Viswanathan, Secretary, SICA, said that based on the outcome of the Avinashi farmers' meet, his association will hold similar interfaces in other districts. Besides the cotton trade and industry, cotton scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University would also participate in the interactive meet, in which the senior cotton textile industrialist and Chairman of the Lakshmi Mills Company Ltd Mr G.K. Sundaram is also expected to participate.
These interfaces have been thought of by the trade as a way to impress upon the State's cotton growers on the potential of the State to achieve higher output, which is hovering around 5-6 lakh bales. The State is endowed with potential to increase the cotton output to 15 lakh bales or so for which these meetings would act as a catalyst, he felt
