KARAIKAL: With the market price for their produce declining by half over oversupply, cotton farmers in Karaikal have demanded the district administration to arrange for the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to procure their crop. While cotton is the second most cultivated crop after paddy in Karaikal, the acreage this year has almost doubled from that of last year's 700 hectares.
Over a thousand farmers have cultivated cotton in around 1,300 hectares in Karaikal this year. The supply exceeding market demand has, however, led to a dip in crop procurement rate. M Selvaganapathy (58), a farmer from Puthakudi in Nedungadu commune, said, “I cultivated cotton in around four acres and my produce fetched a market price of around Rs 100 per kilo last year. I barely managed to recover my cost of investment then.
This year I cultivated the crop over seven acres with a slightly higher investment. But my produce fetched Rs 52, rendering losses equivalent to half the investment.” P Rajenthiran, the president of Karaikal Regional Farmers' Welfare Association, said, "The market price for cotton has reduced to as low as Rs 40 per kilogram from Rs 120.
Each farmer has spent Rs 50,000 an acre and is facing losses running to half the amount due to low price. We request the Puducherry government and Karaikal administration to arrange for CCI to procure farmers’ cotton.” The Cotton Corporation of India is a central nodal agency for undertaking cotton procurement under Minimum Support Price (MSP).
While a marketing committee official said plans are on to conduct an auction for cotton this year, such means of helping farmers sell their produce happens only when the volume is around 400 quintals. Despite the increase in acreage and crop yield, cotton farmers are unwilling to wait for a government auctions, making them to sell off their produce to private traders at a lesser price, officials remarked.
Meanwhile, officials said they would write to the Cotton Corporation of India for procurement only after farmers confirm of meeting minimum quantity standards. "A minimum of a thousand quintals is required for CCI procurement," the official added.