Kapas(unginned cotton) in India

Indian Scenario

India with an annual production of 15-16.5 million bales (1 bale=170 kg) is the World's third largest cotton producer. India also has the largest area under cotton. India produces around 11% of the world's cotton from 20% of the area.  The Ministry of Agriculture estimates India's cotton production in 2003-04 at 123.9 lakh bales. However, other agencies peg the production at 140-160 lakh bales.  Despite having the largest area under cotton in the world, India ranks third in world output of cotton due to its abysmally low average yield of 300 kg against a world average of 550 kg per hectare. Although cotton is cultivated in almost all the states in the country, the 9 states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka account for more than 95% of the area under and output. In India cotton is sown during March to September and harvested during September to April. The peak marketing season for the crop is during November to March. Cotton is the most important raw material for India's Rs. 1,50,000 crores textile industry, which accounts for nearly 20% of the total national industrial production and provides employment to over 15 million people. It also accounts for more than 30% of exports, making it India's largest net foreign exchange industry. India earns foreign exchange to the tune of $10-12 billion annually from exports of cotton yarn, thread, fabrics, apparel and made-ups. Cotton accounts for more than 75% of the total fibre that is converted into yarn by the spinning mills in India and 58% of the total textile fabric materials produced in the country.

Market Influencing Factors

Only one-third of the area is under irrigation, and this causes the cotton output to vary considerably from year to year in response to the vagaries of weather and pest attacks.  More than 80 percent of the cotton produced is sold out by March 31 every year and the price starts firming up from April and starts easing only in September when the new crop starts arriving in the market.  The Government of India fixes the Minimum Support Price for cotton and several Government agencies like Cotton Corporation of India, Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Growers' Marketing Federation procure cotton at this price. This sets the trend for the price initially. But the industry involves large number of players and the market forces determine the price soon. The imports of cotton into the country and exports from the country. Source: http://www.mcxindia.com/SitePages/ContractSpecification.aspx

Kapas

Kapas is unginned cotton or the white fibrous substance covering the seed that is obtained from the cotton plant.

Global Scenario

The world cotton area and production are estimated at around 30-31 million hectares and 20 million tons respectively.  The biggest cultivators of cotton are America, India, China, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan and Eastern Europe, with China, US and India being the three largest producers of cotton.  US has a considerable share in world exports. India and China both fall short of their domestic requirement and are net importers.  Among the consumers China leads the way being followed by India, Pakistan, US and Turkey.

World Cotton Supply And Distribution

2003/04 2004/05 2005/06   2003/04 2004/05 2005/06   Million Tons Million Bales Production 20.430 22.58 21.99   93.83 103.7 101.0 Consumption 21.145 21.51 21.86   97.12 98.8 100.4 Exports 7.129 6.58 6.93   32.74 30.2 31.8 Ending Stocks 7.996 9.07 9.20   36.73 41.6 42.3

Cotton dictionary

Last few posts were kind of a dictionary for cotton industry.

High Quality Cotton bolls

these are high quaility cotton bolls. 25 high quality cotton balls were being sold over this site for 22 dollars, that is almost 40 rs. per boll. below few pictures are of education bolls.

And bolls of a lower quality were being sold for 34 dollars. The website calls the lower quality bolls the education bolls, the reason being teachers that wanted to give the bolls to the children in their class. The children would pull the seed out so it really didn't matter how uniform the boll was. The website says. "I call these bolls seconds ~ They don't make the 1st class grade that I sell for decorations and crafts. They may be missing a loc or two, dirty or misshaped. Although there will be several that may work fine for you."

Hand picked cotton

this is hand picked cotton.I saw a website selling it for dollar 5 per pound. that is almost 1000 rs. per kg. thats huge price difference between India and the developed world.

Ginned cotton

they call it ginned cotton. it is without seed. I saw a website selling it $2.5 / lb. which is equivalent to almost 500 rs. per kg.

Dried Cotton Plant

this stage of cotton plant(narma) is called dried cotton plant.

Cotton burs

these things are called cotton burs in english.

Cotton bale

Above  is what you call a cotton bale.

Desh ka culture- Agriculture

I am hunting for rural talent...people of any qualification are invited. please comment below this post, if you are interested to work for the betterment of rural India.

Are Indian cotton prices a bubble?

I was surfing about cotton industry today, and found this article interesting. Click to read.