RAYAGADA: The district is all set to cross all-time record in cotton production this season as the farmers have already exceeded their farming target.
According to sources of agriculture department, the cultivation of cotton was taken up in 32,186 hectares (ha) of land across the district and the department has estimated 5.14 lakh quintals of production. Till January 2, Regulated Marketing Committee (RMC), Gunupur had purchased around 75,400 quintals of cotton from farmers.
J Surya Rao, a subject matter specialist, said cotton procurement will register a business transaction of Rs 200 crore in 2016-17 which will be all-time record. In 2015-16, the production of cotton was 3.61 lakh quintals from 29,532 ha of land while in 2014-15, it had recorded 4.36 lakh quintals from 27,719 ha with business transaction of Rs 174 crore, he added.
The procurement agency, Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), has fixed the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at `4160 per quintal which is lower than the market price. As a result, cotton farmers have decided to sale their produce in the open market to private parties between `4400 and `5050.
CCI Branch Manager Vinod Kumar said so far, no farmers turned up to sale their produce at the CCI market yard. While procurement has been started at Gunupur RMC mandi, it is yet to begin in Rayagada RMC, he added.
When contacted, secretary of Rayagada RMC Bhavani Dash said generally, cotton purchasing starts from second week of January or after 'Makara Sankranti'. This year, the quality and quantity of cotton are much better than the previous years. The cotton growers will register a good profit this time. About 50 per cent of total cotton in the district is cultivated in Gunupur and Ramanaguda blocks, he added.