WORLD COTTON DAY

Prelims level : Economics- Agriculture Mains level : GS-III- Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country; storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
No Set Found with this ID

Why in News?

  • The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, is participating in the World Cotton Day event being observed from 7th October to 11th October 2019 in Geneva.

World Cotton Day:

  • It is being organised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in collaboration with the Secretariats of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).
  • WTO is hosting the event at the request of the Cotton – 4 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali to celebrate their official application for the recognition of 7th October as World Cotton Day by the United Nations.
  • World Cotton Day will celebrate the many advantages of cotton, from its qualities as a natural fibre, to the benefits people obtain from its production, transformation, trade and consumption.World Cotton Day will also serve to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world because cotton is important to least developed, developing and developed economies worldwide.
  • Cotton occupies just 2.1 % of the world’s arable land, yet it meets 27% of the world’s textile need.
  • In addition to its fibre used in textiles and apparel, food products are also derived from cotton, like edible oil and animal feed from the seed.
  • Cotton is a drought-resistant crop ideal for arid climates.
  • A sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi made out of cotton will be displayed to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, at the event.
  • The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) will be displaying India’s high-quality cotton textiles at the exhibition.
  • Between 2011 and 2018, India implemented a Cotton Technical Assistance Programme (Cotton TAP-I) of about USD 2.85 million for seven African countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad and also Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria.
  • The technical assistance focused on improving the competitiveness of the cotton and cotton-based textiles and apparel industry in these countries through a series of interventions that had significant outcomes leading to a demand for a follow on project
Share Socially