What is Kasturi Cotton?
Indian premium quality cotton will be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’. The Brand 'Kasturi Cotton' will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness. In the coming days the whole world can recognize the Indian originated cotton from its brand name and logo. This is a good step for branding Indian cotton.The Kasturi Brand name & Kasturi Logo is launched by Union Ministry of Textiles, India for the cottons farmed in India on 7th October 2020. This was the second World Cotton Day, 2020. The first day was celebrated on October 7, 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Image: Kasturi Cotton Logo
News on Kasturi Cotton brand
The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and the Union Ministry of Textiles unveiled the brand and invited cotton ginners to make efforts to use the brand name.
The Minister stated that Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) made ever highest Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation of cotton and hopeful that during the new cotton season, the procurement under MSP will be increased. CCI has opened 430 procurement centres in all cotton growing states and payments are being made digitally to farmers’ account within 72 hours.
P K Agarwal, CMD of CCI, said ginners should take special efforts to ensure their produce can be sold under the brand. “Random lots will be checked to see if they adhere to the parameters and if they do, they will be allowed to use the brand,” he said.
Agarwal said the industry was hopeful that around 8-10 lakh bales of cotton would be produced this year, which can use the brand Kasturi.
Agarwal said the industry was hopeful that around 8-10 lakh bales of cotton would be produced this year, which can use the brand Kasturi.
Statistics of cotton production in India
As per sources -Cotton is one of the principal commercial crops of India and it provides livelihood to about 6.00 million cotton farmers.
India is the second largest cotton producer and the largest consumer of cotton in the world.
India produces about 6.00 Million tons of cotton every year which is about 23% of the world cotton.
India produces about 51% of the total organic cotton production of the world, which demonstrates India’s effort towards sustainability.
How would it ensure the Quality of Cotton using this Kasturi Brand and Logo?
Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Textiles said that to ensure sustainability, integrity and end-to-end traceability of the organic products, a certification system based on comparable international standards verified through internationally acceptable institutional system is required to be put in place. Accordingly, Ministry of Textiles through APEDA under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has prescribed a certification system for organic Cotton which will be introduced in phases in the entire textile value chain. Similarly, prescribing a certification system for non-organic Cotton has also been taken up with APEDA so that usages of cotton can be suitably augmented.
The Minister stated that Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) made ever highest Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation of cotton and hopeful that during the new cotton season, the procurement under MSP will be increased. CCI has opened 430 procurement centres in all cotton growing states and payments are being made digitally to farmers’ account within 72 hours.
Further, leveraging the technology, a mobile app, “Cott-Ally" has been developed by CCI for providing latest news regarding weather condition, Crop situation and best farm practices. Discount of Rs.300/- per candy is being offered by CCI in its regular sale to MSME mills, Khadi and Village industry, Cooperative sector mills to enhance their competitiveness and efficiency. It was also stated that cotton may be used across all dimension of Technical Textiles. Further, Hon’ble Minister has intimated that Government has passed bills for the welfare of the farmers, which also be beneficial to the industries.