Cotton Farmers Forced to Sell Below Support Price

WARANGAL: Cotton farmers are facing severe distress this season due to strict new rules imposed by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and the sudden decision of local traders and ginning mill owners to halt all purchases from Monday in the erstwhile Warangal district.

Despite suffering crop damage from rains and spending heavily on cultivation, farmers are struggling to sell their harvested cotton. The CCI’s stringent regulations are forcing desperate growers to sell their produce to middlemen at prices far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). While the Central government has fixed the MSP at ₹8,110 per quintal, farmers are currently selling their cotton to private traders for ₹5,000 to ₹7,000 per quintal.

The crisis stems from CCI’s new procurement guidelines. Farmers must register on the Kapas Kisan App before selling their cotton, a requirement that many say is causing major delays and difficulties. The full MSP of ₹8,110 is offered only if the moisture content is 8 per cent or less. Any moisture above this threshold results in proportionate price cuts, and cotton with moisture levels above 12 percent is rejected entirely.

Although the CCI had announced the opening of around 60 procurement centres in the erstwhile Warangal district, its actual purchases have remained minimal. At the Enumamula Agricultural Market, the CCI bought only 39,181 quintals, compared to the total district arrivals of 160,827 quintals.

In protest against the new rules, the Cotton Association has stopped all purchases at markets and ginning mills indefinitely. Of the 56 ginning mills in the region, only 27 were granted permission to operate this year. Traders had earlier demanded equal opportunities for all mills and urged the government to intervene and resolve the issue. With no action from authorities, they stopped buying from Monday.

This has left farmers with no option but to sell their produce at low rates to private buyers or risk spoilage, as most lack proper storage facilities.

J. Sambaiah, a farmer from Narsampet, told Deccan Chronicle that he invested over ₹1.5 lakh on six acres but suffered rain damage, reducing his yield to just four quintals per acre. He said the low yield combined with poor market conditions did not even cover his investment.

Another farmer, R. Srinivas from Parvathagiri mandal, said he cultivated cotton on nine acres and saw his yield fall from 10 quintals per acre last year to less than four this year due to heavy rains. He lamented the absence of MSP procurement and urged the government to compensate farmers who suffered crop loss due to the recent rains.