TN govt should take steps to increase cotton production: BJP

The Tamil Nadu BJP's agriculture wing on Tuesday urged the state government to take immediate steps to increase cotton production for meeting the needs of the textile industry.

Since the spinning mills in Tamil Nadu require 1.1 crore bales in a year for producing yarns, Chief Minister M K Stalin who was appreciated by the industry for steps taken by the Centre to exempt 11 per cent of import duty on cotton, should also help in increasing the production levels from the present four lakh bales per year to five lakh bales in the state, BJP's Agriculture Wing president G K Nagaraj said in a statement here.

Unlike vegetable cultivation, the farmers will get more profit in cotton cultivation, he said, adding that the textile industry has to depend on states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and also on imports to meet their cotton requirements.

To increase the income of cotton farmers and also make them self sufficient, the government should take concrete steps on a war footing to enable increase in cotton production, Nagaraj further said.