Telangana cotton farmers demand ₹7,000/quintal

Cotton farmers in Telangana, one of the major growers of the fibre in the country, are a worried lot as the procurement season begins.

The farmers, who sowed a record acreage of 46 lakh acres for the fibre crop this year, are demanding a price of ₹7,000 a quintal as they feel the MSP of ₹4,320 for the year is not remunerative. They also want the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to open more procurement centres.

“A large number of farmers have switched to cotton this time as prices of paddy, turmeric, mirchi and redgram fell sharply last year. If farmers get a price lower than that, the State and Central governments should pay the difference,” S Malla Reddy, All-India Vice-President of All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), told BusinessLine.