Status of cotton ginnng and pressing industry in Maharashtra

Maharashtra has the highest area under cotton cultivation in India. It has an average annual production of 3 million bales (170 Kg each) from an average of 2.7 million hectare area. Almost all the cotton is ginned on double roller (DR) gins. In 1998–99 cotton ginning season 734 factories were engaged in ginning. There were 6487 DR, 16 saw gins stands and 839 single roller (SR) machines in operation. The average number of DR gins are 12 in each factory. The cotton received in the factories is contaminated and quality deteriorates drastically in further improper handling and proessing. Not a single factory is using pre-cleaners and lint cleaners and not adequate facilites are available for cotton storage. This results in lower grade of lil1t and quality ultimately suffers in domestic and international market. The major constraints for modernization are the small sizes of the factories and monopoly of MSCCGMF Ltd. in cotton procurement, processing and marketing. Therefore very few factories are likely to take advantage of Technology Mission on Cotton. but still some partially modern factories exist in the State. If Maharashtra cotton has to earn good reputation in global market the MSCCGMF Ltd. has to take initiative for modernization of ginning industries.