Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) Cotton Development and Research Association (CDRA) involved in cotton-seed production and distribution has developed the battery-powered, portable, handheld kapas plucking machine in association with Coimbatore-based Point Industries. The machine is provided with cotton collection bag.

The cotton kappa plucker machine by launched by Chairman of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry Prem Malik in Coimbatore on Friday.

According to C.K. Narayanasaami, chairman of SIMA CDRA, the association has been making attempts to manufacture cotton picking machine to suit Indian cotton crop condition to bring down the cost for the farmers and since there is shortage of labour for cotton picking.

With manual picking, a farm worker will be able to pick 13 kg to 15 kg of kapas a day and the farmer pays Rs. 230 to Rs. 250 as wages. This works out to over 35 percent of kapas cost. With the machine, the cost can be reduced to less than seven percent of the kapas price.

Deputy chairman of SIMA CDRA B. Lakshminarayana said that the association would appoint distributors for sale of the machine to farmers. The response to the machine so far had been encouraging. The association had appealed to the State Government to reduce the Value Added Tax on the machine to five per cent from the current 14.5 percent.

It had also appealed to the Rajasthan Government to provide subsidy for it. The association had conducted several field trials before launching it for sale.