1,623 tonnes cotton procured on Day-1 of CCI purchase

HYDERABAD

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) commenced procurement of cotton in Telangana on Monday with purchase of 1,623 tonnes cotton from 784 farmers at 72 ginning mills at the minimum support price of ₹8,110 per quintal.

In a ‘rythu nestham’ programme, interacting with farmers gathered at the Rythu Vedikas across the State through videoconferencing on Tuesday, Minister for Agriculture and Marketing Tummala Nageswara Rao said the State government had requested the Centre to procure cotton with moisture content up to 20% instead of the norm of up to 12%, in the wake of rains due to cyclone Montha.

He suggested the cotton farmers to enrol their details in the Kapas Kisan App and contact the authorities on toll-free number 1800 599 5779 in case they have any problems. He also cautioned them on the moisture content in their produce. The Minister also clarified the doubts of some farmers from Khammam, Mancherial, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Nalgonda districts.

The Minister stated that a total of 318 ginning mills across the State were notified for cotton procurement as over 28 lakh tonnes of produce was expected from the fibre crop raised in over 45.3 lakh acres. He stated that the procurement of soybean also commenced in the State on Tuesday and he requested the Centre to procure maize and jowar under the price support scheme.

Komatireddy plea

Meanwhile, Minister for Roads and Buildings Komatireddy Venkat Reddy called on the Chairman and Managing Director of CCI Lalit Kumar Gupta in Mumbai on Tuesday and requested him to come to the rescue of cotton farmers by relaxing the procurement norms since they had suffered heavy losses due to untimely rains this year.

He appealed to the CCI Chairman to relax the fair average quality norms for cotton procurement. Jadcherla MLA J. Anirudh Reddy also accompanied Mr. Venkat Reddy in his meeting with the CCI Chairman.