Special project on cotton shows rise in yield via high-density planting
Cotton yields increased by 30.4 per cent on average in the areas where high-density planting system (HDPS) was adopted in shallow soils, and increased by 39.15 per cent on average in closer spacing (CS) in medium soils, according to a reply in the Rajya Sabha.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday on the steps taken by the Government to increase the yield, Bhagirath Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the cotton productivity in India is estimated at 443 kg lint per hectare, and is relatively low in comparison to the major cotton producing countries such as China, Brazil, and the US that have adapted HDPS with high precision agro-ecologies.
In order to boost cotton yield, especially in low productivity areas, HDPS is being promoted and four compact Bt cotton varieties and 19 Bt cotton hybrids amenable to HDPS have been released during past three years.
Extended to 2nd year
A special project on cotton, ‘Targeting technologies to agro-ecological zones-large scale demonstrations of best practices to enhance cotton productivity’, under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) was implemented in 61 districts of eight States covering an area of 9,064 hectares involving 10,418 farmers during 2023-24 kharif season in public-private-partnership mode for scaling up of HDPS in shallow soils and CS in medium soils, he said.
“The average yield increase in the HDPS adopted plots was 30.4 per cent, and average yield increase in the CS adopted plots was 39.15 per cent. This special project has been extended into second year 2024-25 with a target of 14,478 hectares area in eight states. In addition, 11 Bt cotton hybrids highly resistant to cotton leaf curl virus, one of the devastating diseases of cotton, were released to minimise the losses in north zone,” he said.
To ensure the availability of affordable and climatically adapted Bt or other hybrid varieties of cotton seeds in the country, the Government has released and notified 163 Bt cotton hybrids and three non-Bt cotton hybrids / varieties developed by both public and private sector organizations. The seeds of these varieties / hybrids are available for the farmers in all cotton growing areas since 2020, he said.
e-NAM in 23 States
Replying to a question on the implementation of e-NAM (e-National Agriculture Market) scheme, Ramnath Thakur, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said 1,389 mandis of 23 States and four Union Territories have been integrated with e-NAM platform.
So far, 1.78 crore farmers, 2.62 lakh traders and more than 4,250 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) are registered on e-NAM. The agricultural produce trades with a value of ₹3.79 lakh crore have been recorded on e-NAM platform.
Crop residue subsidy
To a separate query on subsidy for purchase of crop residue management machinery, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is implementing Crop Residue Management Scheme from 2018-19 to support efforts of the State governments of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi to address air pollution caused due to paddy stubble burning and to subsidize machinery required for management of crop residue.
Under this scheme, the funds are provided to the State governments for providing financial assistance for the purchase of crop residue management machinery.
Under crop residue management scheme, an amount of ₹150 crore has been released to Punjab, ₹75 crore to Haryana, and ₹50 crore to Uttar Pradesh till December 18 of the financial year 2024-25.