KURNOOL: After soaring to a record high of Rs 11,219 per quintal less than a week ago, the high demand for cotton pushed its price past Rs 12,000 at the Adoni agriculture yard on the expected lines, on Wednesday. It is for the first time that the Kurnool cotton is in such high demand. Even in November, the fiber crop was being traded at an inflated price of Rs 7,500 per quintal.
The trend is likely to continue as officials expect that low availability and poor quality of the crop grown in other areas, may jack up the price at Adoni, the lone cotton market in the State, further to Rs 15,000. As much as 80 per cent of daily arrivals to the yard is being supplied to other States, Adoni yard deputy director B Sreekanth Reddy said.
As per the official records, cotton was grown in 7 lakh acres in the district last year. The cultivation of the six-month crop generally starts in July and harvesting is done till December. However, 50% of the crop was damaged and 10% more dried up due to scanty, the agriculture official said.