State to purchase cotton from Next yr

The state government will purchase cotton produce from the farmers from next year onwards through state agencies Nafed and Markfed to benefit the farmers and to ensure remunerative price as the CCI officials are not doing justice to the farmers and Central government is not extending help to the cotton farmers.

Efforts are being made to this effect by the ministry of Marketing led by T. Harish Rao and the issue was taken up and thoroughly discussed in the wake of farmers were not getting MSP Rs 4,100 announced by the Central government since CCI is not purchasing cotton from the farmers citing high moisture content than the permissible 8-12 percent moisture content percent in the cotton.

This problem arose in major cotton growing districts including Adilabad, Warangal and Karimnagar in the state. 

Minister Jogu Ramanna said the Nafed and Markfed have their own staff and machinery and godowns to start commercial cotton purchases but it was not possible for this year and said certainly they will purchase cotton through Nafed and Markfed to do justice instead depending on central government and CCI.

‘State government is of the opinion to strengthen its own agencies to purchase cotton by next year and they were doing exercise for this’, said Minister and added that so far total 71,798 quintals of cotton and in that CCI has purchased only 453 quintals in this Kharif season in the district.

According to official sources, the CCI has opened 14 cotton purchasing centre but the cotton purchases has taken place only at five centres in the district. Farmers are not selling their cotton to the CCI due to imposing restriction on the percent of   moisture content in the cotton produce.

Cotton farmers not getting MSP

Natural moisture content which lingers between 18 to 20 percent in the cotton produce hit the minimum support price (MSP) for cotton in the open market as the CCI officials have declined to purchase the cotton citing the high moisture content brought by the farmers against permissible 8-12 percent content.

The CCI will deduct Rs 41 per one percent moisture content than the permissible 8 percent content.So far in the district nearly 2,000 quintals of cotton was purchased at various markets in the Adilabad district.   

This situation creates favorable conditions for private cotton traders who are coming forward to purchase the cotton having even high moisture content percent with deducting Rs 41 per one percent higher than the 8 percent moisture content.

However, farmers are not getting MSP with the high moisture content with private traders offering Rs 100 more than the MSP Rs 4100. The farmers are losing in terms of deduction Rs 400 -500 an average for higher moisture content percent.

In the process, cotton farmers are not getting minimum support price MSP Rs4,100 by the central government.                   

Farmers say it is common that moisture content percent will be more than 20 percent in the present weather conditions though farmers not applying water as CCI officials allege to increase the cotton weight. The moisture content percent will come down gradually by the second picking.

Congress state secretary Gandrath Sujatha said CCI officials are making the moisture content percent an issue to bring in the private cotton traders declining to purchase cotton in the guise of high moisture content.

Sujatha demanded that state government should announce Rs 1,000 bonus per quintal cotton like Maharashtra government while ensuring MSP to the cotton by CCI and added that officials and Ministers, MLAs of ruling party are extending support to the private cotton trader and creating favorable conditions for them.

She found fault with the government for insisting on farmers to bring cotton having 8-12 percent moisture content and even pasting wall posters with this regard in the villages though the Ministers know very well that more than  20 percent moisture content is common in the initial days.

Free hand to private cotton traders

cotton farmers protesting with their damaged crop in Adilabad 

This Kharif season also the state government has given a free hand to the private traders to purchase cotton from the farmers in the Telangana. The farmers do not follow any rules unlike Cotton Corporation of India (CCI).

The marketing department has introduced bar-coded identity cards to cotton farmers and made online payments compulsory for the CCI from this Kharif to curb irregularities.

But the rules regarding online payments, which can be easily monitored, do not apply to private cotton traders.

Private cotton traders are need not to pay the amount to the farmers online for the cotton purchases and the online payments rule will be applied only to the CCI for its purchases from the farmers.

The bar-coded cards have the ‘Real Time Gross Settlement’ (RTGS) and details of farmers, date on their land and bank accounts and other particulars. There was no rule that farmers take their cotton produce directly to the market yard and weigh the produce before dumping it with private traders of ginning and pressing factories.

The entry of the middlemen in cotton purchases is certain now, as the rules have been relaxed for private cotton traders.

Marketing assistant director T. Srinivas said private cotton traders need not to follow the rules in cotton purchases as CCI does and added that market yard officials will issue online ‘Thakatti’( bill) for cotton purchases.

During the season last year, it was found that that private traders and owner of the cotton ginning and pressing had purchased the cotton from the farmers of the Adilabad district and Maharashtra at low prices and sold the same to the CCI for minimum support price, causing huge loss to the farmers.

Cotton commission agents purchased cotton from the farmers at low price sold hundreds of quintals on benami names to the CCI. Cotton traders offer Rs 100- 200 more than MSP Rs 4,100 being offering by the CCI which will start purchases probably from October10.

There were allegations that Market committee officials have colluded with the private traders, cotton commission agents and owner of private ginning and pressing factories to prepare ground for irregularities. 

Hype over quantity of cotton produce

Cotton commission agents and owners of the private ginning and pressing factories are busy in creating hype about quality of cotton yield for this Kharif in the Adilabad district of Telangana. 

They were preparing a ground for indulging in irregularities like in the past in purchasing cotton at cheaper rate from Maharashtra and sell the same to CCI and get good margin.

It is alleged that cotton commission agents amassed huge wealth though fraudulent means in Adilabad. There were many incidents where it was shown in the commercial cotton purchases that a farmer who cultivated cotton in his five acre land sold 250 quintals of cotton in the last Kharif.

Hardly farmers get 15-20 quintals of cotton yield in one acre that too in black soil with the irrigation facility otherwise farmers get an average 10 quintals in one acre land in the district.

Some of the cotton commission agents and owners of factories were mounting pressures on the cotton farmers to sell their cotton produce much earlier without waiting for higher price for their yield in the international market.

Farmers to get barcoded ID's

The marketing department will issue barcoded identity cards containing farmers’ details for use in cotton purchases to control irregularities at the Market yards in the Telangana.

Details of land, crops, bank account, pattadar pass book will be barcoded into the cards. Efforts are being made to start the commercial cotton purchases from September 27 in the Adilabad district.    

It is learnt that state government came out issue barcode  identity cards for farmers following the reports of huge irregularities in cotton purchases in Kharif-2014 in Warangal, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.

It was found that cotton commission agents and owners of the Cotton ginning and pressing factors had purchased the cotton produce at low prices from the farmers on benami names and sold it to the Cotton Corporation of India at higher prices.

The farmers, already facing distress, were deprived of even minimum support price of Rs 4,050 announced by the Central government last Kharif.

Collector M. Jagan Mohan said they the use of the barcoded ID cards would prevent irregularities in the cotton purchases at market yards.

Minister Jogu Ramanna said nearly 56 lakh quintals of cotton purchases takes place last Kharif in the district.

But the Agriculture department figures showed that cotton crop was badly damaged and withered due to drought conditions and cotton yields were low and did not cross 35 lakh quintals in the last Kharif in the Adilabad district.

Nearly 21 lakh of cotton was purchased from the farmers of bordering Maharashtra and other parts of state at cheaper prices and sold to the CCI of Adilabad branch, at MSP of Rs 4,050 by the middlemen and owner of the ginning factories.

Even the Adilabad marketing department claimed that its revenue in terms of taxes on cotton purchases had been increased, contradicting the agriculture department figures.        

Farmers accuse CCI of scam