LAXMIPUR (ADILABAD): Cotton farmers are not coming forward to sell their produce and are waiting for a high price in the open market as they have received the second term Rythu Bandhu amount and have been promised up Rs 1 lakh crop loan waiver. Many farmers do not badly need to sell their cotton produce to meet expenditure, unlike in the past.
However, cotton yield has come down this season due to bad weather and pink bollworm in Adilabad district. Cotton farmers have stored cotton produce in their houses and will sell whenever they get a high price in the market. Earlier, cotton farmers used to sell their produce soon after harvesting even at lower prices so as to repay the loans they have taken from banks, clear private debts and keep some money for investment for the next agricultural season.
Equations have changed in this election year and there are promises of crop loan waiver up to Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4,000 per acre as financial assistance under Rythu Bandhu. The TRS government has promised to hike assistance to Rs 5,000 from the fresh year. This season, most cotton farmers got more than the MSP of Rs 5,450 in the Adilabad agriculture market.
On the instructions of district collector Divya Devarajan, agriculture market officials have put up a flex board, highlighting the names of ginning factories which have offered the highest price as well as lowest prices for cotton produce to encourage ginning factories to offer a good price.
