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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) today gave its approval for increasing the overall target under Mini Missions – III & IV of the Technology Mission on Cotton for the development of 250 market yards, modernisation of 1000 ginning and pressing factories with new bale press and installation of 200 grading laboratories, without any change in the existing funding pattern and other parameters. This is aimed at production of contamination-free cotton for the use by the domestic textiles industry as well as for export.
India is the third largest producer of cotton (after China and USA) in the world. However, apart from inconsistent production and low productivity (about 300-400 kg per hectare against world average of around 700 kg per hectare). The Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) was launched in February 2000 with the objective of improving the fibre attributes, reducing the cost of cultivation, increasing productivity and reducing contamination. The Mission comprises four Mini Missions with the objective of ‘research’, ‘dissemination of technology to the growers’, ‘improvement in market infrastructure’ and ‘modernisation of ginning and pressing factories’.
YSR/DS/HS/LV
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