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Punjab Agriculture Department has directed field staff to send cotton hot spot report on daily basis in cotton zone for getting better production this year.
The spokesman for the department disclosed that during second fortnightly meeting of cotton growers were advised to eradicate harmful weeds and use shield for protection of cotton plants during spray of weedicide. Water quantity during spray of weedicide should be 100 to 120 litre per acre. Farmers are also advised to apply water after water scouting i.e if water stress is observed in the fields of cotton then use applications of water. These visible signs may attribute bluish colouring of cotton leaves, upper nodes may feel shorten in height. Upper stem may seem reddish in colour and upper nodes of cotton may feel rough.
The spokesman said that under the direction of Secretary Agriculture Department Wasif Khurshid, attack of white fly, green hopper, Thrips and Mealy Bug attack may be observed as per climatic and geographical location. If attack of these insects observed to exceed than Economic Threshold Level (ETL), farmers are advised to use spray against these insects as per consultation with Agricultural local expert of the department. He disclosed that due to climatic change it has been observed that cotton crop is susceptible to attack of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) this year. To mitigate this disease effect and for its control it is advised that farmers must eliminate weed from their cotton fields and vicinity. Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) mainly spread due to attack of white fly which serves as mediator of this disease. Weeds serves as debris for white fly insect and also compete with cotton plants with respect to food and other essential nutrition. Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV) also found on other alternative host plant such as okra, brinjal, chilies, tomatoes etc and some weeds e,g Itsit, Mako, Lahlee, Karund, Hazar Danni, Kuth Kunda, Auk, Saklaie etc. So, eradication of these alternate host is necessary to control Whitefly/ CLCV attack.
The spokesman for Agriculture Department disclosed that in case of attack of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus (CLCV), farmers should start application of fertiliser particularly Magnesium can mitigate effects of cotton. In an experiment conducted at Cotton Research Station Multan, it has also been observed that spray of Magnesium Salphate at the rate of 300g, Potassium Nitrate 200g, Zinc Salphate 200g and Borax 200g mixed in 100ml water per acre and 60, 75 and 90 days after sowing of cotton crop can mitigate effect of CLCV.
He advised that white fly attack is main source of this disease and due to attack of CLCV, cotton crop change colour so farmers are advised to keep in contact with Agriculture (Extension or pest warning) field staff to counter this disease. In the month of August, Pink Bollworm second generation may appear in the field so farmers are advised to use sex trap pheromone against Pink Bollworm. He advised farmers to start picking of cotton balls after 9am and it should be ended at 4pm. If there are chances of rainfall then farmers are advised to postpone picking of cotton and labour involved in picking should use cotton clothes for this purpose and avoid mixing hair and other type of contamination to mix in cotton bolls so price of cotton in market may meet ideally.
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In its third year, Gartex 2018, the comprehensive show dedicated to garmenting and textile manufacturing solutions and technologies, organised by Mex Exhibitions, represented its full forced and signalled towards the rise of Indian apparel industry. Over the last couple of years, textile printing has emerged as a legitimate printing segment. Gartex 2018 was a validation to this fact. At the same time, the show highlighted how garment printing is just a small part of the massive and diverse industry, which is growing leaps and bounds.
Over 150 companies showcased around 300 brands at the show held on 18-21 August 2018 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, giving industry stakeholders an insight into the new trends and business opportunities.
According to the organisers, Gartex India 2018 is designed to be a trendsetter for the industry player to showcase new technology, state-of-the-art equipment, materials and services. The show wanted to accelerate technological advances in the Indian textile and garments industry through the showcase of high-quality, high-speed and competitively-priced products.
It also provided a unique platform for international and national suppliers and trade visitors to expand their business opportunities in the garment and textile industry in India through networking and engaging in investment opportunities during the show.
This year, the show was divided into segments — Digitex (focusing on digital textile printing technology); Denim Show (bringing together the denim supply chain under one roof); Embroidery Zone (highlighting innovations in embroidery sector); Fabric and Accessories Pavilion (focusing on embellishments and fabrics) and Garmenting and apparel (showcasing technological developments in the garment & apparel manufacturing sector).
Interestingly, the show witnessed a surge of visitors from small towns and emerging manufacturing centres like Ludhiana, Saharanpur, Surat, Kolkata, Kerala, besides a flow of students from various institutes. Of the few exporters who did visit the fair, the general feedback was, that there is business in the market for those players who were committed to the trade, but sadly not everyone wanted to make the effort. It was pointed out by many of the exhibitors that the slow phase in business had helped companies to put focus on R&D, so the industry was seeing many innovations, whether in fabric or technology.
Among the technology, printing was the obvious focus, with digital printing being the highlight. Mouvent held a special press conference to introduce their printing technology to the Indian market. Many of the small garment manufacturers with 20-40 machines were at the event to seek out options to expand and explore new areas of business.
In a sense, digital printing was the centrepiece of the show, but almost all of them were sublimation printers. However, one of the country’s biggest manufacturers of garment printing machinery, Colorjet, showcased its model Vastrajet, a direct to fabric printing machines. Another direct to fabric machine was Tanya Enterprises’ model TE-1600.
Entry level sublimation printers were a major attraction among the visitors. Ahmedabad- based Mehta CAD CAM Systems and Gurgaon-based FIT Technology were the ones that launched their sublimation printers for the first time at the event.
Mission-linked research encompassing basic and applied research to promote the advantages of cotton and bring new opportunities for cotton beyond the fiber-to-fashion supply will be next phase for research in the cotton sector.
Bringing expertise from different scientific fields such as genomics, molecular biology, chemical engineering and textile science to work on strategic projects to boost the consumption of cotton is the way forward. This effort was visible recently at a reception hosted for Professor Luis Rafael Herrera-Estrella, a foreign member of the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS), who is joining Texas Tech University (TTU) as a distinguished professor
TTU already has five National Academy of Engineering members among its distinguished faculty.
Dr. Herrera-Estrella will focus on genomics and other advanced scientific techniques to improve cotton, such as stress tolerance against environmental factors, at the new Center for Functional Genomics of Abiotic Stress at TTU. This initiative has been made possible thanks to a $5 million grant from the Governor’s University Research Initiative in Texas. TTU provided matching funds, with the support of industry, to establish this center in Lubbock.
Aspects of basic research such as that of Dr. Herrera-Estrella needs to be translated in the field to benefit the farmers and the entire supply chain. Involving and focusing academia, industry, local, state and federal agencies on strategic projects may be the way forward. Paying attention to the strategic strengths of cotton in the High Plains of Texas is evident in the recent effort at TTU, which was echoed in a statement by Lawrence Schovanec, TTU President.
Addressing the issues faced by stakeholders – whether cotton producer, consumers and importing nations – will pay a good return on the investment.
“Cotton producers rely heavily on the research activities conducted by universities,” says Shawn Wade, Director of Policy Analysis and Research at Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. “Cotton producers face a tremendous number of challenges, all of which ultimately impact yield and quality of the cotton they produce. Research that can focus on specific issues that can range from managing or adapting to increased environmental stresses to developing new markets for low micronaire cotton are key to their continued success.”
Eric Hequet, Chairperson of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at TTU and an internationally-renowned researcher on cotton fiber quality, provided insight on the importance of fiber quality research.
“Technological advances in textile production throughout the world and stiff competition with a wide array of man-made fibers have led to an ever-moving fiber quality profile target,” stated Hequet. “Evolution of the textile industry forces us to continuously improve yield, quality and stress tolerance of (Texas) cotton. Another aspect of this evolution is the increasing demand for bio-based products, which will create new opportunities for cotton.
“Interdisciplinary research and development activities focusing from gene to jeans will benefit the cotton sector and economies that depend on cotton,” he added.
Additionally, attracting leading talents in strategic areas will drive innovation forward, such as the addition of the first NAS member to TTU.
“With the strength that Dr. Herrera-Estrella will add to our genomics effort, combined with our already world-class programs in production practices, economics, fiber quality, and novel uses for cotton fiber, Texas Tech will be the global leader in research, education, and outreach related to this important crop,” stated Michael Galyean, TTU Provost.
Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Amro Nassar said on Friday that the investment of the European Union (EU) in Egypt is estimated at 15.1 billion U.S. dollars.
“The volume of trade between Egypt and the EU countries reached 26 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, and 13.4 billion dollars in the first half of 2019,” Nassar was quoted by official MENA news agency as saying.
He added that the trade exchange between the two sides mainly concentrated on furniture, medical industry, leather products, agriculture crops, electronics, food, and textile and construction materials.
“Britain ranked the first with 5.3 billion dollars which constitutes 35 percent of the value of the EU’s investment in Egypt, followed by Netherlands, Italy and France,” the report added.
The minister added that the EU is Egypt’s largest trade partner and investor, underlining the importance of enhancing the investment cooperation to boost exports to the regional and international markets.
He hailed Egypt’s role as a trade hub for many markets in Africa and the Middle East region.
Egypt has been suffering economic difficulties over the past few years due to political instability and relevant security issues.
In late 2016, Egypt started a strict, austerity-based three-year economic reform program including local currency liberalization as well as fuel and energy subsidy cuts and tax hikes to contain a budget deficit, promote local production and boost foreign investment.
As the Turkish lira slumped to a record low earlier this month amid political and economic turmoil in the country, Drapers investigates what impact it might have on the fashion industry.
The Turkish lira has fallen in value throughout 2018 and came under pressure in early August following the announcement that the US would levy tariffs on Turkish-made steel. The currency has has fallen against the dollar fall by as much as 40% this year and is currently trading at 7.8 lira to the pound, compared with 4.5 lira to the pound at this time last year.
Although more expensive than their counterparts in Asia, Turkish manufacturers can offer faster delivery times and the flexibility to repeat in season, which has led to many UK retailers and brands to move some production to the country.
Richard King, sales director at The Cotton Textile Company, which works with Turkish mills, says many clients have sought assurances from Turkish suppliers over how they finance their operations after the currency fell by a fifth in recent trading.
“The conversations were very different,” he says. “They used to be about new developments. Now they are asking, ‘How have you funded your machinery?’
We sought and got reassurances from our partners so that we could move forward with surety in our manufacturing.
“We are seeing more caution from labels we work with – we are seeing range cuts. But one label approached us to look at Turkey to bring things closer to home from the Far East. There are still advantages.”
One UK supplier says the drop in the Turkish lira has pushed up the cost of any loans taken out by manufacturers denominated in US dollars by more than a third.
“A lot of Turkish businesses could go bust in the next two or three months,” he warns. “It’s a disaster for manufacturing – not just on clothing but all industries.
“The view of many in Turkey is that yes, there may be great opportunities on price, but you may find the supply chain struggle to sustain the business.”
Political instability has deterred many UK copmanies from investing in ranges sourced from Turkey. One UK supplier notes that though cheaper, Turkey’s political instability may weigh on brands when deciding on their sourcing options.
He said: “Turkey is high up on the scale of risk – certainly as high or higher than Bangladesh. The Turkish premier [President Erdogan] is erratic and doesn’t have good ties with European governments, so it’s difficult to know how he is going to react. Trump only needs to say one thing and it can cause even more problems for our Turkish partners.
“With many brands, it is more about ethics than the money [for items] and what a brand stands for, so for that reason many brands may not choose Turkey.”
However, another high street supply source noted that the currency value drop makes Turkey a cheaper option than before, which may tempt new business: “The simple economics is that the price to import will become much cheaper, but there are risks associated with that because of the uncertainty in the economy.
The cotton crop in 11 districts of Telangana has been hit by extensive rains in the last two weeks. According to official figures, the cotton crop in over 1.30 lakh acres and paddy in about 50,000 acres was hit by the rains. Adilabad and undivided Warangal districts, the two key cotton-growing districts in the state, were hit the hardest.
While 11 of the 31 districts were hit by heavy rains, Sangareddy, Medak , Siddipet, Yadadri and Medchal districts remained in the ‘deficit’ rainfall category. Farmers’ unions, however, said cotton crop losses would be far higher as the rains came at the wrong time. They said heavy rains hit the crop at the flowering stage and this could result in heavier losses.
Farmers in the state grew cotton in about 42 lakh acres this kharif, despite losses in the last season due to the virulent attack of pink bollworm. “Losses in Adilabad would be much higher as heavy rains lashed the cotton-growing district,” Telangana Rythu Sangham leader, Malla Reddy, said.
Adilabad district recorded 1,112 mm of rainfall, while Jogulamba Gadwal district received the lowest rainfall of 216.7 mm. Official figures put the crop losses in Adilabad district at 1.25 lakh acres. “The rains were not well spread out and were not timely. There were either no rains or insufficient rains,” he said.
Cotton farmers in several areas had to go for second sowing as the monsoon failed them after they sowed the seeds in the beginning of the kharif season. “Heavy rains in a span of 10-14 days would hit them the second time too,” Malla Reddy said.
Jaipal Reddy, a former leader of the Confederation of Farmers’ Association, said farmers faced two diametrically opposite problems. “While some were hit by heavy rains, others in districts such as Nalgonda, Sangareddy and Mahaboobnagar received less rainfall,” he said.
The much-anticipated trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials ended on Thursday without major developments, as the world’s two largest economies activated another round of dueling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country’s goods.
Implementation of the latest 25 percent tariffs on Thursday did not derail the talks.
The talks were the first face-to-face U.S.-China meetings since early June to try to find a way out of a deepening trade conflict and escalating tariffs.
US and Chinese officials ended two days of talks on Thursday with no major breakthrough as their trade war escalated with activation of another round of dueling tariffs on $16 billion worth of each country’s goods.
“We concluded two days of discussions with counterparts from China and exchanged views on how to achieve fairness, balance, and reciprocity in the economic relationship,” White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in a brief emailed statement.
The discussions included “addressing structural issues in China,” including its intellectual property and technology transfer policies, Walters said.
The mid-level Trump administration officials participating in the talks would brief the heads of their agencies on the discussions, she added.
Implementation of the latest 25 percent tariffs on Thursday did not derail the talks, led by U.S. Treasury Under Secretary David Malpass and Chinese Commerce Vice Minister Wang Shouwen. They were the first face-to-face U.S.-China meetings since early June to try to find a way out of a deepening trade conflict and escalating tariffs.
Earlier, a senior Trump administration official downplayed chances for success, saying China had yet to address U.S. complaints about alleged misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property and industrial subsidies.
“In order for us to get a positive result out of these engagements, it’s really critical that they (China) address the fundamental concerns that we have raised,” the official said on a press call on the new U.S. security review law for foreign acquisitions. “We haven’t seen that yet, but we are going to continue to encourage them to address problems that we have raised.”
In a brief statement on Friday, the Chinese commerce ministry said both sides had a “constructive” and “candid” exchange over trade issues, and will stay in touch on the next steps.
A spokeswoman at China’s embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.
China’s Commerce Ministry said in Beijing that it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the latest round of U.S. tariffs. The two countries have now targeted $50 billion of each other’s goods and threatened duties on most of the rest of their bilateral trade, raising concerns that the conflict could dent global economic growth.
Trump administration officials have been divided over how hard to press Beijing, but the White House appears to believe it is winning the trade war as China’s economy slows and its stock markets tumble.
Economists reckon that every $100 billion of imports hit by tariffs would reduce global trade by around 0.5 percent.
They have assumed a direct impact on China’s economic growth in 2018 of 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point, and somewhat less for the United States, but the impact will be bigger next year, along with collateral damage for other countries and companies tied into China’s global supply chains.
Hard line rattles Beijing
Business groups expressed hope that the meeting would mark the start of serious negotiations over Chinese trade and economic policy changes demanded by Trump.
However, Trump on Monday told Reuters in an interview he did not “anticipate much” from this week’s talks.
His hard line has rattled Beijing and spurred rare criticism within the highest levels of China’s ruling Communist Party over its handling of the trade dispute, sources have said.
Beijing has denied U.S. allegations it systematically forces the unfair transfer of U.S. technology and has said it adheres to World Trade Organization rules.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang would not reveal any details of the talks during a daily news briefing.
“We hope that the U.S. side can meet China halfway, and with a rational, pragmatic attitude, conscientiously with China get a good result,” Lu said.
Semiconductors, plastics hit
Washington’s latest tariffs apply to 279 product categories, including semiconductors, plastics, chemicals and railway equipment, that the Office of
the U.S. Trade Representative has said benefit from Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” industrial plan to make China competitive in high-tech industries.
China’s list of 333 U.S. product categories hit with duties includes coal, copper scrap, fuel, steel products, buses and medical equipment.
Though it is too early for trade damage to show up in much economic data, tariffs are beginning to increase costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the Pacific, forcing companies to adjust supply chains and pricing, with some U.S. companies looking to decrease reliance on China.
John Neuffer, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said the tariffs would hurt U.S. companies more than Chinese firms, since most semiconductor products imported from China started out as chips fabricated in the United States.
“Putting tariffs on semiconductors specifically doesn’t give the administration additional leverage. The Chinese don’t sell their own semiconductors to America so Chinese enterprises won’t be hurt by this,” Neuffer said.
The rupee’s fall to sub 70-per-US dollar levels is likely to impact second quarter earnings in specific sectors and stocks with exporters benefiting while importers face rising costs.
The rupee traded in the range of 68.44 to 70.42 per US dollar so far in the second quarter from July 1 to August 23 as against its much broader range of 64.80 to 69.10 per US dollar during April 1 to June 30 period of the previous quarter. India can capitalise on the sectors which will benefit out of the rupee depreciation — IT and pharma companies which predominantly earn in dollar term although they might not focus purely on exports like textiles, oil and gas, tourism and consumption.
Despite touching historic lows, for the first time foreign portfolio investors have not withdrawn from the Indian equity market in a panic and the equity market is trading at an all-time high.
Dhananjay Sinha, head-institutional research and strategist, Emkay Global Financial Services, said in his outlook for Q2FY19, “Earnings growth boosters are pivoted on the following factors — higher central and state government spending in the run-up to the upcoming elections (boosting consumption in both urban and rural areas); the depreciation of the INR against the USD; enhanced household leverage spending; and pent-up demand after two major economic shocks.”
“Indian equities will have a cascading impact on the broader indices if the tension escalates in Turkey but the macros of the Indian equities look decent. As a result, this correction should be taken as a buying opportunity,” said Foram Parekh, fundamental analyst, Indiabulls Ventures. As the upstream companies tend to sell crude to OMCs like HPCL, BPCL and IOC in dollar terms and crude is also trading above $70 per barrel, companies like ONGC, Oil India and Reliance Industries will tend to benefit out of the depreciating rupee and rising crude prices.
“Many textile companies sell their products directly to the US and North America. We are bullish on the entire textile space due to the falling rupee. Hence, stocks like Welspun India, Trident and Indo Count Industries will tend to benefit on account of the falling rupee,” said Parekh.
IT exports are likely to benefit from the depreciating rupee and improving growth outlook, according to analysts. Since most of the companies in the IT sector deal with export of IT services, the IT sector will be the primary beneficiary of the depreciating rupee, according to Parekh. “At the same time rising input costs, especially of imported raw materials, are negative for aviation and pharma companies,” said a report by ICICI Securities.
Pharma companies with high export exposure benefited from rupee depreciation. However, higher input costs impacted the gross margins due to an increase in prices of APIs imported from China, said the report.
In the tourism sector, the rupee depreciation would help inbound travel as foreign travellers get more rupees to spend on their arrival in the country while Indians travelling abroad have been hit. India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), Tourism Finance Corporation of India, Thomas Cook and Cox & Kings have seen higher volatility in their stocks price during the period July 1 to August 21, but do not reflect decisive uptrend so far – rather their performance has been mixed.
For travel support companies like Thomas Cook and Cox & King, rupee depreciation will be rather negative with fewer Indians travelling abroad. But, the rupee-dollar movement is a technical aspect as travel plans do not change and it will not impact earnings much, said an analyst. “The rupee depreciated 10 per cent in a month on account of the lira. But for the first time in its history, the Indian rupee has depreciated to lifetime lows and at the same time the Indian equity market is trading at its lifetime highs,” Parekh said.
However, Parekh added, “The depreciating currency will impact the Indian economy adversely as India is an importing country. The falling rupee will result in an increase in its oil imports which can widen our fiscal and current account deficit.”
According to Angel Commodities, MCX Oct Cotton edged lower on Wednesday tracking International cotton prices. Currently cotton is trading above 23,000 levels on reports on cut in production prospects by the cotton body.
MCX Oct Cotton edged lower on Wednesday tracking International cotton prices. Currently cotton is trading above 23,000 levels on reports on cut in production prospects by the cotton body. The USDA’s FAS has projected India’s cotton production to decline 1.7% on year to 365 lakh bales (1 bale = 170 kg) due to delay in monsoon rains and fall in acreage. Cotton acreage till last week was down by 4 % on year to 111.3 lakh hac compared to 117. 1 lakh ha last year, according to the farm ministry data. As per Commerce ministry data, cotton exports in June surged by 27.6% to 5.7 lakh bales as compared to last year. India is likely to export 70 lakh bales of cotton in 2018/19, down 30% from an earlier estimate due to low crops. India has so far contracted to export around 6 lakh bales to China, which has imposed sanctions on shipments from top exporter the United States.
Outlook
Cotton futures are expected to trade sideways due to improving acreage and weather conditions in top cotton growing states – Gujarat and Maharashtra. However, reports of pest attack may restrict production prospects.
The Orissa High Court has directed investigating authorities not to take coercive action against importers on the issue of availing advance authorisation licences under GST regime, said Abhishek Rastogi, counsel from the side of importers.
Earlier, importers had approached various courts over restrictions imposed for availing advance authorisation licences. The change in condition has led to the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) issuing notices to exporters. The case will come up for hearing in Madras HC on Friday. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had inserted a clause of “pre-import” for exempting imports done on advance authorisation licences from integrated goods and services tax (IGST). These licences are issued to allow duty-free import of inputs, which are physically incorporated in export product. The clause meant that imports done after exports would not be allowed to avail exemptions from IGST
However, advance authorisation is generally used for importing goods after exports are made, as against the pre-import condition imposed by the CBIC, argued Abhishek Rastogi. The clause was introduced after exemption was granted to imports under advance authorisation from paying IGST. Earlier, imports under advance authorisation were subjected to IGST. This prompted exporters to move courts. Though IGST is refundable, cash flow of exporters was hampered.
