2.46 lakh quintals of cotton sold below MSP in Punjab

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, January 12

Over 25 per cent of cotton, including desi kapas, in Punjab has been sold by farmers below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) during the ongoing season.

Poor quality

Almost 60 per cent of the crop is of poor quality. This is the reason for the fall in prices of cotton. Rajnish Jain, Commission agent

Figures show that till January 6, 9.79 lakh quintals of cotton has arrived in the state mandis. Of this, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has purchased just 1.76 lakh quintals while private traders have purchased 7.98 lakh quintals. As much as 2.46 lakh quintals of cotton – both narma and kapas – has been bought at rates below the MSP. The area under cotton this year is 1.73 lakh hectares.

Khairat Lal, a cotton grower in Sappanwali village of Abohar, said he was forced to sell his cotton at much lower rates than the MSP.

“I could manage to sell the narma for Rs 6,500 per quintal. Last year, I had sown cotton on five acres, but because of low returns, this year, I cultivated cotton on just one acre, bringing most of my land holding under kinnow and other horticulture crops. However, this year, even kinnow has not been able to give good returns,” he rued.

The MSP of cotton is Rs 6,620 for medium staple or narma and Rs 7,020 for long staple or desi cotton. Though initially when the cotton started arriving in the mandis, the kapas sold at a high price of Rs 8,351 and narma at Rs 8,200 per quintal, but slowly as the crop flooded the mandis, its prices fell. The lowest price at which the narma was bought was Rs 3,000 per quintal and the lowest price for desi cotton or kapas has been Rs 6,500 per quintal.

Wazir Singh, another cotton grower in Abohar, lamented that the high-velocity winds just before harvesting had damaged the crop as had the pink bollworm attack. “Last year, I got good price of Rs 7,500 per quintal, but this year, I could get just Rs 6,500 per quintal,” he said.