The Hindu Business Line : Cotton tech mission awaits nod for 10th Plan document

THE Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) may be ambitious in seeking larger clout for the 10th Plan period. But the promoter of quality cotton production may not have all its workings well cut-out for the Plan period as its project proposals are yet to be formally cleared by the Finance Ministry.

Already into the second year of the 10th Plan period, the TMC's plan document is yet to be cleared by the relevant finance committee in the Ministry. Right now, the TMC is carrying out its work-agenda as per the sanctions accorded to it for the 9th Plan. The TMC, during its run through the 9th Plan period, could complete just two-years and one month before the term ended.

According to sources, it was then agreed that the TMC would continue through the 10th Plan period as well because it would have to run another three years to complete the five-year tenure. But any scheme that remains operative in a five-year period should have to logically run through the whole of five years and cannot be terminated in between. In that case, the TMC's tenure has to go till the end of the 10th Plan period and cannot be halted in between, the sources argue.

The TMC is facing hurdles right now in undertaking newer activities such as supporting private participation and non-governmental organisations willing to take up field extension activities in propagating quality cotton seeds or forming a link between cotton research bodies and cotton farmers.

The TMC was originally designed to implement two of the four mini-missions set under the cotton technology mission programmes, namely improving cotton marketing yards across the country and modernising the ginneries. The other two mini-missions, namely revamping cotton seed production through R and D and transfer of technology from farm to field are vested with the department of agriculture sciences.

The TMC's complaint is that while it could broadly cover its objectives in the sphere of cotton market yarn development and ginnery modernisation, the pace of the entire cotton technology mission could not be maintained because of the inadequacies in implementation of the other two mini-missions relating to the cotton seed R and D and technology transfer from laboratory to farm.

Informed sources say that the delay in getting the Finance Ministry's approval for its 10th Plan document would hamper newly added proposals such as funding the schemes designed to promote private sector/NGOs participation in cotton development programmes, especially in the areas of quality seed distribution.