Inauguration of National Laboratory for Assessment of Trash and Contamination in Cotton & Stakeholder’s Meet by Dr. S. N. Jha, DDG(Agricultural Engineering), ICAR

Dr. S. N. Jha, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Engineering), ICAR inaugurated the National Laboratory for Assessment of Trash and Contamination in Cotton (NLATCC) in the presence of Dr. Sujata Saxena, Director (Acting), ICAR-CIRCOT on 12th July 2022.

This lab has been established for quantitative evaluation of the trash and contamination in cotton and has the capability of measuring trash content of about 300 samples per 8 hr shift as per standard methods. This facility aims to facilitate cotton quality assessment and reduce contamination level in Indian Cotton.

On 13th July 2022, DDG chaired ICAR-CIRCOT Stakeholder’s Meeting with industry participants namely representatives from Cotton Corporation of India Ltd., Cotton Association of India, KVIC, AICOSCA, machinery manufacturers, incubatees and Agri startups participated in the meet.

Dr. Sujata Saxena, Director, ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai welcomed the dignitaries to the meeting and provided brief description of different research activities, skill and entrepreneurship development and funding support programmes to Agri startups being carried out at the institute.

During the meeting, discussion was held on present trends in cotton research, cotton marketing and future expectations from CIRCOT in view of the prevailing industry trends and technology upgradation.

Dr. A. J. Shaikh, Former Director, ICAR-CIRCOT opined that more scientific research should be undertaken in value addition to cottonseed. Dr. S. N. Jha, DDG emphasized that technology developed by the institute needs to be popularized among different stakeholders and student community. He also suggested participation of cotton sector institutions in various activities to be undertaken for ICAR-CIRCOT Centenary Celebrations in 2024.