Gå ubegrenset med Magzter GOLD
Få ubegrenset tilgang til over 9000 magasiner, aviser og premiumhistorier for bare
Prøve GULL - Gratis
Naturally coloured cotton revival hit by funding woes
Hindustan Times West UP
|July 21, 2025
NEW DELHI: India’s naturally coloured cotton, which thrived commercially in the 1940s, is struggling to stage a comeback despite rising global demand for sustainable textiles and decades of government's efforts in research.
-
The specialty crop is currently grown on just 200 acres across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, fetching ₹240 per kg, 50% more than regular cotton at Rs 160 per kg. However, farmers are hesitant to expand cultivation due to significantly lower yields.
“The productivity of light brown cotton is very low at 1.5-2 quintals per acre, compared to 6-7 quintals per acre for normal cotton. This discourages farmers from expanding the area under this crop,” Ashok Kumar, Principal Scientist at ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (CIRCOT), told PTI.
Annual production from these limited acres stands at merely 330 quintals, underscoring the challenge facing this specialty crop that could potentially transform India’s textile sustainability profile.
ICAR-CIRCOT is currently focusing on light brown coloured cotton.
Denne historien er fra July 21, 2025-utgaven av Hindustan Times West UP.
Abonner på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av kuraterte premiumhistorier og over 9000 magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
FLERE HISTORIER FRA Hindustan Times West UP
Hindustan Times West UP
Indian middle class's gains in the last 12 years
More money in the pocket, better infrastructure, and the digital transformation have fuelled even larger aspirations — allowing a confident, better-served citizenry to demand more
4 mins
June 11, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
BITs need not be only a bitter pill for India
In the last 36 months, New Delhi has inked or upgraded over half a dozen free trade agreements (FTAs), with the UAE, Australia, European Free Trade Association, or EFTA (comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), New Zealand, Oman, the UK and EU.
3 mins
June 11, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
Suvendu keeps home, Swapan gets finance portfolio in Bengal
All 41 ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal were allocated their portfolios on Wednesday, with chief minister and minister-in-charge Suvendu Adhikari retaining the crucial home department along with law and judicial affairs, land and land reforms, power, information and cultural affairs, refugee relief and rehabilitation, personnel and administrative reforms, and hill affairs.
1 mins
June 11, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
Accountability down the sewers
No country can claim to be modern while standing on the backs of invisible workers risking their lives in sewers
1 mins
June 11, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
More than a BIT of a challenge for India
In the past couple of years, India signed bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with a few countries — most prominently, with Israel and the UAE.
3 mins
June 11, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
India’s politics in the last 12 years
Opposition parties have found it difficult to match Modi’s appeal, BJP’s relentless groundwork and identity politics
2 mins
June 10, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
H-1B visa is a measure of American politics
Last year, US President Donald Trump sought to gut the H-1B visa programme by raising its application fees tenfold to $1,00,000 — more than the median wage for H-1B workers in 2024.
1 min
June 10, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
Raising minimum wages limits workers' choice
After the Karnataka government notified new minimum wages for 83 types of employment late-May, with upto 60% increases in some cases, employer unions have approached the courts challenging the notification.
3 mins
June 10, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
When preventive health check-ups do more harm
Every day, people are exhorted to undergo “preventive” health check-ups. These come in the form of executive check-ups, prevention “camps”, and bundled packs which promise more tests for less money.
3 mins
June 10, 2026
Hindustan Times West UP
From discovery of India to trust in Bharat
Aspirations of and scrutiny by the people have gone up exponentially compared to Nehru’s times. Modi’s success lies in having measured up to these and sustaining a bond of trust with the people
4 mins
June 10, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size