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Delayed funding hits cotton projects in AP, Karnataka

Our Bureau

COIMBATORE, Nov. 26

ANDHRA Pradesh and Karnataka agricultural departments are sore that the funds for the Integrated Cotton Development Programme (ICDP) under the Mini Mission II of Technology Mission for Cotton (TMC) have been delayed, though the budgetary allocation has b een made for different States.

Participating in a review meeting of ICDP under Mini Mission II of TMC, Dr Bethi Narothama Reddy, Additional Director of Agriculture, Andhra Pradesh, said ``while the allocation has been done, money has not been released to the State on time for implemen tation. The progress is bad''.

He said the total outlay for the scheme for 2000-01 was Rs 5.01 crore. Out of its share of Rs 3.76 crore, the Centre had released only Rs 1.25 crore. The unspent balance of Central share at the beginning of the current fiscal was Rs 1.82 crore. An amount of Rs 5.75 crore had been kept aside, but the budget was yet to be sanctioned by the State Government.

Dr Bethi said ``for want of funds, only projects that are season-bound can be taken up'' and added that Rs 7.5 crore received as advance for Market Committee Yards had been utilised for the establishment of bio-control labs.

The progress made last month indicated that the State was able to achieve a financial target of Rs 0.4 crore and a cumulative target of Rs 0.78 crore.

Dr S.C.V. Reddy, Joint Director of Agriculture, Karnataka, said ``though the project was cleared in May, the department could not get the clearance from the State Government until August. The sowing had started by then''. The State's financial target was Rs 5.62 crore.

In Tamil Nadu, the department had expressed satisfaction about the progress. The finance target was Rs 5.56 crore, of which the State's share was Rs 1.39 crore and the Centre's Rs 4.17 crore. The Agriculture Director, Mr Arulmozhi, indicated that the fun ds were received on time and the implementation was on.

Interestingly, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh want to freeze the area under cotton and strengthen its productivity, Tamil Nadu is aiming to double the area within the next five years.

Call to face complexities

During the meeting, the National Professor of the ICAR-DBT-TNAU IPM Centre, Madurai, Dr S. Jayaraj, called upon the scientific community to gear themselves to face the complexities in cotton cultivation.

``Cotton cultivation is going to be more complex because of newer problems. There is therefore an urgent need to identify these problems in a location-specific manner,'' he said.

Stressing the need to identify the areas of weaknesses and strengths, he said `a holistic approach' would help in increasing cotton productivity. Dr K.R. Krishna Iyer, former director, CIRCOT, Mumbai, expressed concern over the falling use of cotton be cause of synthetics. The polyester revolution would not succeed in the long run, he said and added that the consumption of cotton fibre was on the rise in developed countries. Touching upon the quality aspect of Indian cotton, Dr Iyer said ``if cleaned p roperly, it is good''.

Recapping the status of the Centrally-sponsored ICDP in Karnataka, Dr S.C.P. Reddy, Joint Director for Agriculture, Karnataka, said though the project was cleared, the proposals could not be implemented as the State Government's clearance was received on ly in August. (The sowing starts in May-June).

``However, 75 per cent of the area has been covered in the kharif season - 5.72 lakh hectares and 115 per cent in the rabi season'', he added.

Welcoming the new changes in Mini Mission II on training of farmers, surveillance of pests and diseases, Dr Reddy said ``the progress is very bad as far as financial targets are concerned''.

Dr Reddy stressed for a higher subsidy component for certified hybrid seeds compared to varieties, besides hinting that there was no scope for taking up intensive seed development.

In Andhra Pradesh, the area under cotton had fallen in the last two years from 10.51 lakh hectares to 8.88 lakh hectares. The Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Department, while seeking some flexibility in the implementation process, pointed out that the Govern ment should announce quality requirements such as staple fibre length and colour before the onset of the season, to enable the growers to plan accordingly. The need to rationalise prominent varieties and promote straight varieties of similar yield potent ial was also stressed.