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.        

Money lenders fleece farmers

 The prolonged drought conditions have come as a boon for money lenders who are         popularly known as cotton commission agents in the Adilabad district of Telangana.

Money lenders or middlemen, who are popularly known as cotton commission agents who give loans and sell agriculture inputs to the farmers had amassed large tracts of agriculture lands and became land lords by exploiting the farmers.

Most of the cotton commission agents forced the farmers to mortgage their lands or register farmers’ lands in their names to give crop loans. Such incidents are on the rise in the recent years due prolonged dry spell and prevailing drought conditions.

Middlemen are not giving loans to the farmers without mortgaging the land unlike in the past.

Earlier, these agents used to give loans to the farmers and there was good will among them, but they suspect that farmers may not repay loans in the wake of continuous drought conditions in the last three seasons. So they buy same land by   fixing a price if the farmers failed to repay the loan. The farmers have to bear the expenses of the land mutation in the name of cotton commission agent.

The cotton commission agents will return the land transfer documents after cancelling land mutation if farmer repays the loan.    

It is said that now each money lender or cotton commission agent have nearly 150- 300 acres of agriculture lands with them which were mortgaged by distressed farmers for loans.

There was every possibility of becoming owner of that land if the farmer failed to repay the loan due to mounting interest for a given time.

Farmer Naveen of Pochera in Adilabad mandal said ‘cotton commission agents charge 20-25 interest per annum on the loans they give to the farmers and most of the times the interest will be calculated for six months and farmers repay their loans but cotton commission agents charge for the one year period.

The cotton commission agents sell the pesticides, fertilizers and seeds at exorbitant prices and charge additional interest on the already hiked prices of agriculture inputs.      

The cotton commission agents have became popular and powerful over a period of time with the increased cultivation of cotton in the Adilabad , Utnoor divisions and became mediators to the owners of the private cotton ginning and pressing factories in and around the Adilabad town.

Some of the cotton commission agents in the Adilabad division became so strong that even they were funding to the political leaders contesting in the elections and few cotton commission agents have started showing their wealth lavishly constructing posh buildings worth crores of rupees.