Ginning Mills Shut Down Over CCI Rules
Protests spread over factories, Kapas Kisan app : Reports
ADILABAD: The owners of cotton ginning factories (facilities that process raw cotton to separate the usable fibers) across the state shut down their units from Monday in protest against the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) for grading ginning factories and implementing the Kapas Kisan App system. As part of the agitation, the Adilabad cotton market remained closed, and no cotton purchases were carried out.
All ginning factories in the state suspended operations, while farmers continued their separate protest against the CCI’s restrictions on procurement and moisture content norms.
It is alleged that the CCI is booking purchase slots exclusively for factories in the L1 category, causing factories in other categories to lose business. A factory’s category is determined by the modernity of its machinery and the number of labourers employed in the unit.
Ginning factory owners are demanding that CCI remove the grading system and allocate cotton equally to all categories. They argue that continuing with the current system will force them to spend money on labour and machinery maintenance without any production.
Adilabad Ginning Mills Association president Ch. Raju said they oppose CCI’s grading of factories under L1 to L8 and the allocation of cotton through the Kapas Kisan App primarily to L1 factories in Adilabad district. He said the grading was based on factory capacity and machinery. There are 18 ginning factories in Adilabad town and Markfed.
CCI has restricted procurement to only 7 quintals per acre and accepts cotton only with moisture between 8 and 12 per cent. Most farmers are receiving less than ₹6,000 per quintal from private traders, far below the MSP of ₹8,110, as the CCI refuses to buy cotton with moisture above 12 per cent.
Agriculture minister Tummala Nageshwar Rao has asked the district collector to conduct field surveys to assess the average cotton yield in order to counter the CCI’s restrictions.
Farmers across Adilabad district are expressing strong resentment against the moisture and procurement restrictions imposed by the local CCI branch.
Farmer B. Raju of Sathnala said the moisture content in his cotton remained at 14 per cent even after drying the crop in the sun for 10 days, as foggy and cloudy conditions are making drying difficult.
He said he has 20 quintals ready for sale but is unsure of getting a fair price in the current situation. Private traders, he said, are exploiting distressed farmers by offering prices below ₹6,000 per quintal. He added that farmers are spending heavily on labour, paying ₹10 per kg for cotton picking.
There is also a heavy demand for agricultural labourers, as cotton picking has begun simultaneously across farms after boll bursting.
Former minister Jogu Ramanna of the BRS said farmers and their families are also facing hardship in selling soya because pattadar passbook holders must personally give a thumb impression, unlike earlier when any family member could do so.