Minister for Handloom, Textiles and Sugar Shankar Patil Munenakoppa has urged agricultural scientists and University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, to promote naturally coloured cotton as it will benefit both farmers and the textile industries.
Speaking at a meeting on cultivation of naturally coloured cotton at UAS in Dharwad on Monday, Mr. Munenakoppa said that locally grown cotton can be effectively utilised by the local cotton ginning and spinning units.
Establishment of textile parks will help create employmentopportunities for local youths who can then avoid migration from village to cities, he said and added that many had quit cultivation of DCH and Varalakshmi cotton varieties because of poor yield.
The Minister emphasised the need for farm scientists to work towards developing cotton varieties that will give more yieldand consequently, more revenue to farmers.
Vice-Chancellor of UAS Mahadev Chetti said that requisite support will be extended to research and development on extra-long staple (ELS) cotton to cater to the needs of textile industries in the State.
Associate Director I.S. Katageri, S.S. Patil and cotton scientist Manjula Maralappanavar threw light on the status and importance of DCH-32 and extra long-staple cotton.
Subsequently, the Ministervisited powerloom units of the Department of Textile and Apparel Designing, College of Community Science, UAS, Dharwad, and saw for himself research and development activities, including value addition to underutilised natural fibres, product diversification and value addition to Kaudi art, natural dyeing and value-added products and functional clothing.
The Minister was accompanied by Director of Research P.L. Patil, Balachandra Naik and others.
