GM tech, policy reforms key to cut cotton imports: Experts

India’s cotton imports during the 2025–26 season are projected to reach 60 lakh bales, while the exports are set to decline sharply to 15 lakh bales, says the latest estimate by the Cotton Association of India (CAI).

Meanwhile, domestic consumption of cotton has been revised upward to 348 lakh bales, highlighting a widening gap between production and demand, and signalling India’s increasing dependence on imported cotton.

Agriculture scientist RS Paroda says there is a dire need for urgent technology and policy reforms to restore the country’s global competitiveness in cotton production. He calls the current situation a significant setback for Indian cotton farmers and industry, noting that while cotton producing countries worldwide have rapidly adopted newer agricultural technologies and innovations, India has been deprived of the same GM (genetically modified) technology for more than two decades.

“This technological stagnation has adversely affected productivity, competitiveness, and farmers’ incomes, underscoring the need for a transparent and science-based regulatory framework,” he said.

The Padma Bhushan awardee urged the government to critically review the sector and adopt a long-term strategy centred on advanced biotechnology, science-based regulation, and innovation-led growth.

“The CAI estimates are a wake-up call. India’s cotton sector has been steadily losing its global leadership over the last few years. Rising import dependence in a crop where India was the world’s largest producer till 2014 and the second-largest exporter underscores the urgent need to embrace next-generation GM technologies. Increasing dependence on cotton imports also exposes the country to unnecessary geopolitical and market risks,” he added.

The founder chairman of the Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS) also said that the cotton mission announced recently is silent on scaling up GM cotton, a proven technology that can significantly benefit both the farmers and Indian agriculture.

Another expert Piyush Singh notes that challenges facing the cotton sector are structural rather than cyclical, arising from a lack of enabling policy environment that fosters innovation, the very factor that drove cotton’s remarkable success over the last 25 years.

“India's regulatory framework must keep pace with the best global practices to facilitate timely and faster adoption of scientific innovations that drive agricultural growth,” he said.

India is the world’s largest cultivator of cotton by acreage and ranks second in global production, yielding around 290 to 317 lakh bales annually.

The top cotton producing states are Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana. The crop supports roughly 6 million farmers and powers the massive domestic textile industry.