The National Food Security Mission (NFSM) – Special Project recently held an interactive meeting in Coimbatore for cotton farmers who were participating in ICAR-CICR pilot projects. Participants received seeds and participated in the conference.
The seeds were distributed to show how to grow cotton with a high density planting system (HDPS), smaller spacing, and extra long staples (ELS).
According to a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is funding the “Targeting Technologies to Agro- Ecological Zones – Large Scale Demonstrations of Best Practises to Enhance Cotton Productivity” pilot project, and the Cotton Corporation of India is funding the “Awareness and Extension Services on Best Farm Practises for Cotton Farmers to Improve Quality, Yield, and Sustainability” pilot project.
At the meeting, Prajakta L. Verma, Joint Secretary (Fibre), Ministry of Textiles, described the characteristics of the unique project.
According to Lalit Kumar Gupta, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Cotton Corporation of India, only India has the ability to double cotton yield when farmers use the best farming techniques.
The special project is carried out in a public-private partnership format, bringing all cotton stakeholders together, according to ICAR-CICR Director Y.G. Prasad. The project’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is a special aspect.
