Cotton procurement hit

Sameer Singh

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 24

The farm agitation against the contentious agricultural laws has taken its toll on the procurement of cotton in Punjab this season. Even as cotton procurement had begun early this season and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) purchased a record volume of the produce till the second week of November, the procurement has registered a sharp decline after that.

Firstly, it was the farm agitation around a month ago that affected the procurement and now, the four-day strike by arhtiyas in the state has impacted the procurement of cotton amid the peak season.

Data procured from the CCI revealed that while it was procuring approximately 65,000 quintals of cotton on a per-day basis in the state, the daily procurement had come down to approximately 21,000 quintals now.

Talking to The Tribune, Neeraj Kumar, CCI general manager and Punjab in charge, said, “We got an overwhelming response initially when the procurement started as many farmers turned up in the market to sell their produce but after the farm agitation and arhtiyas’ strike, the procurement of cotton has got affected. However, farmers who want to sell cotton are directly going to the cotton factories and the procurement by the CCI is underway.”

Sources said arhtiyas, in order to muster up support for their strike call, had asked farmers to stay back and not to bring their produce to the mandis.

As per the records of the CCI, total 25 lakh quintals of cotton had been procured so far and payment of approximately Rs 1,250 crore was made to farmers this season.

Meanwhile, Ruldu Singh, state president of the Punjab Kisan Sabha, said, “The farm agitation will have ripple effects in the coming days. The cotton procurement will remain affected until the Union Government hears out our genuine demands and repeals the anti-farmer laws. We stand firmly with arhtiyas in their call for strike in the state.”