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No workers to pick cotton in Adilabad

Nearly 20,000 Maharashtra labourers find work in Adilabad district alone

Adilabad: Shortage of agriculture labour hit the cotton picking and hundreds of acre of cotton fields are seen with plants full of cotton bolls with flowering in the villages in Adilabad district.

The cotton bolls remained in the agriculture fields and being dropped due to inordinate delay in picking. There is a huge demand for agriculture labour for cotton picking and farmers engaging them are offering extra money. The price will go up to Rs 7 per kg cotton picking based on demand.

Recently, two farmers fought over taking labourers with them for cotton picking at Adilabad and Basar railway stations. Farmers provide free transportation to the agriculture labour and sometimes even free lunch. These Maharashtra labourers come for cotton picking in mostly bordering mandals in Nirmal and Adilabad divisions.

A farmer Jangil Dashrath of Ichoda said Rs 6 per kg is being paid for cotton picking. He observed that there was huge demand for the labourers due to their shortage.

He said they engaged Maharashtra labour as there was huge demand for labourers for cotton picking as cotton crop reached harvesting stage at the same time in the agriculture fields in the villages.

Farmer L.T. Chandra-kanth Reddy of Bellur in Jainad mandal said it was seen farmers waiting at bus stations and Adilabad railway stations for the agriculture labour arriving from bordering Mahara-shtra every cotton season for cotton picking and this was every day activity for some of the farmers due to shortage of labour. He said about 20,000 labourers come in peak season to Adilabad division alone from Maharashtra for cotton picking every season and added that every day nearly 500 labourers come to Adilabad and some of them go to their villages for some days and again come back and this migration begins in October.

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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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