Kasturi Branding for Cotton

Why in news?

• Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani, launched the first-ever Indian cotton brand and logo called “Kasturi” on World cotton Day.

About the Branding:

• India’s premium cotton would henceforth be identified as “Kasturi” in the world cotton trade.
• It was created by Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and cotton ginners who satisfy specifications such as staple length, can brand and sell their cotton under the brand.
• The quality parameters of Kasturi will be comparable to Extra Long Staple cotton, which has longer fibre length and higher quality than most cottons.
• Kasturi Cotton will stand out for its whiteness, brightness, softness, purity, luster, uniqueness and Indianness.

About Indian Cotton:

• India is the largest producer of cotton globally and about 60% of the Indian textile Industry is cotton based.
• Cotton is the crop of tropical and sub-tropical areas and requires uniformly high temperature varying between 21°C and 30°C.
• Frost is highly damaging and it requires at least 210 frost free days in a year.
• The requirement of water is low and needs an average annual rainfall of 50- 100 cm only
• India produces long medium and short staple varieties of cotton, although long staple accounts for about half of the production.
• Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab are the major cotton producers in India.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements:
1.India is the fifth largest producer of cotton in the world.
2.Cotton is highly vulnerable to Frost.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to Prelims Question