HYDERABAD:Irrigation and marketing minister T Harish Rao has urged Union minister of state for textiles Santosh Gangwar to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for cotton from Rs 4,100 to Rs 5,000 per quintal.
In a letter to the Union minister on Wednesday, Harish Rao said that due to dry spells in the state, the farmers raised cotton on a large extent instead of raising food grain crops. As a result, the expected cotton yield would be 284 lakh quintals this year against last year’s 205.8 lakh quintals. With the increase in input costs, the present MSP would not help the farmer, Harish Rao said and urged the minister to increase the MSP to Rs 5,000 per quintal.
Harish Rao also wanted the Centre to relax the norms that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) would purchase cotton having 8 to 12 per cent moisture. The moisture content in cotton would be 12 to 20 per cent in October and November. “The CCI should also take this in account while purchasing the cotton,” he said.
Harish Rao also wanted the Cotton Corporation to dispense with the norm of purchasing only 40 lakh quintals of cotton a day. There should be no cap on the purchase of cotton, the minister said and highlighted other issues relating to CCI, which includes opening of a CCI centre in Hyderabad.