After bajra, farmers resort to distress sale of cotton

After bajra and other Kharif crops, cotton farmers are also not getting the minimum support price (MSP) as traders cite poor quality of the produce. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), which intervenes in the market when prices crash below the MSP, has also not yet started procurement, leaving farmers high and dry.

According to farmers, they have been facing massive losses in the Kharif season on account of the recent heavy rains. “Now, whatever produce we have is also not being purchased by the government agencies. We have no option, but to sell it at throwaway prices to private traders,” said Dayanand Singh, a farmer of Kirtan village, who had sown cotton on two acres. Some of his cotton crop survived rains, and he was expecting at least to recover his input cost by selling it.

Another farmer, Mukesh Kumar of Ladwi village, who sowed cotton on four acres of land, said his crop was washed away in the recent rains. “But still, we were able to pluck some cotton and hoped to get reasonable prices. But private traders are offering around Rs 6,000 per quintal, which is totally inadequate,” he said.

Farmer leaders demanded that the CCI should step in to stabilise market prices of cotton so that farmers could get the MSP. The Centre has fixed the MSP at Rs 7,860 per quintal for 27 MM quality cotton and Rs 8,910 per quintal for superior 28 MM quality. But farmers are being forced to sell their produce at much below the MSP.

Traders, however, said the produce arriving in mandis was of very poor quality. They said prices could crash further due to this.

An official of the CCI informed that they would start purchasing cotton at the MSP very soon, while adding that the quality of crop had deteriorated due to recent heavy rains.

“The moisture content is still high in the cotton. Besides, we are in talks with the government and ginning mills for the supply of procured cotton to mills,” the official said.

Haryana has around 3.80 lakh hectares under cotton cultivation this year, which has been gradually decreasing every year. “The recent rains in September and October have badly impacted the crop, with reports of boll rot and root rot affecting cotton plants,” the official said.