Cotton procurement has officially commenced in Telangana, spearheaded by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI). On Monday, the very first day of operations, a significant 1,623 tonnes of cotton were purchased from 784 farmers across 72 ginning mills. Farmers were compensated at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of ₹8,110 per quintal.
During a “Rythu Nestham” (Farmer’s Friend) initiative held on Tuesday, Agriculture and Marketing Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao engaged with farmers statewide via videoconferencing from various Rythu Vedikas. He announced that the State government has urged the central authorities to relax cotton procurement standards, specifically requesting that cotton with up to 20% moisture content be accepted, a significant increase from the usual 12% limit. This plea comes in response to the recent heavy rainfall caused by Cyclone Montha, which has impacted the cotton crop.
Minister Rao advised cotton farmers to register their details on the Kapas Kisan App and utilize the toll-free helpline 1800 599 5779 for any issues or queries. He reiterated the importance of managing moisture content in their produce and addressed concerns raised by farmers from districts including Khammam, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, and Nalgonda.
A total of 318 ginning mills have been designated statewide for cotton procurement, anticipating an impressive yield of over 28 lakh tonnes from the fibre crop cultivated across more than 45.3 lakh acres. Additionally, the Minister noted the start of soybean procurement on Tuesday and appealed to the Centre to extend its price support scheme to include maize and jowar.
Minister Komatireddy Urges Relaxed Procurement Norms
Separately, Minister for Roads and Buildings Komatireddy Venkat Reddy met with CCI Chairman and Managing Director Lalit Kumar Gupta in Mumbai on Tuesday. During their discussion, Minister Reddy passionately appealed for relaxed procurement norms, emphasizing the severe losses cotton farmers have endured this year due to unpredictable and untimely rains.
Specifically, he urged the CCI Chairman to ease the “fair average quality” standards for cotton procurement to provide much-needed relief. Jadcherla MLA J. Anirudh Reddy also joined Minister Venkat Reddy in this crucial meeting.