|
China, not India, provides support system for cotton
Ajit Kumar V Coimbatore,
Dec 24 : Which major countries provide direct income or price support programmes to their cotton producers? Neither India nor Pakistan figure in the list of seven cotton producing countries, where producers benefited by state sponsored support programmes. But the US and China does! A study on the government programmes affecting production and trade in cotton and cotton products, presented by the secretariat of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), suggests that almost 52 per cent of world cotton production benefited in 1999-2000 from direct income or price support programmes. The study was released at the ICAC's 59th plenary meet held at Cairns early last month.The report noted that subsidy programmes in some of the countries were enhanced in 1999 to include relief for weather-related disasters. Out of the 76 cotton producing countries in 1998-'99, support programmes benefiting cotton producers were in place in the US, China, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Mexico and Brazil. The level of support provided by governments in these countries during the same year was to the tune of $5.30 billion. Egypt too, apart from the seven countries mentioned earlier, provided assistance to cotton farmers in 1999-2000. China, according to the study, provided an estimated $2.70 billion support to its cotton producers. Mexico assisted cotton producers to the extent of $15 million in 1998-'99. The study claims that during '90s income and price support programmes were discontinued in several developing countries. Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
|
