Abstract

The average annual consumption of foreign cotton by textile mills in India during the Third Five-Year Plan period was 7.68 lakh bales involving foreign exchange equivalent to Rs. 53 crores annually. The staple length of the imported cotton was. 1-1/16" and over. The consideration of huge drain of foreign exchange itself should be weighty enough. But more important than this is the inexorable fact that no nation can afford to depend upon other countries perpetually for the supply of raw materials required for one of its leading industries. Intense interest is, therefore, being taken to develop extra long staple cotton varieties having staple length of 1-3/16" and above useful for spinning higher counts of over 60s yarns. The cotton research workers in the Tamil Nadu Agricultura! Department have been fortunate in evolving a cotton of the desired type. This paper deals with the development of this new strain.

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