Cotton farmers in the Palamuru region of India are facing a challenging situation as market prices for cotton have drastically decreased over the past two months. Many farmers are holding onto their stocks, hoping for prices to increase to a more profitable level. This year, cotton crop was sown over a record extent of 9.18 lakh acres, compared to a normal area of 7.8 lakh acres, due to high prices last year. The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) bought cotton at Rs 6,380 per quintal last year, while the open market price jumped to Rs 9,000-10,000 per quintal. However, untimely rains and adverse seasonal conditions brought down this year’s harvest to around 50 lakh quintals, far short of the expected 84 lakh quintals.
During the initial harvesting days, good quality cotton fetched up to Rs 10,000 per quintal, but traders are now offering only Rs 6,500-7,500 for good quality cotton, and normal quality is rated below Rs 6,500. This has left many farmers with stocks they cannot sell at a profitable price. A farmer from Vallur village sowed cotton in over 4 acres and stated that at the current prices, they won’t even get back their investment.
Farmers like Amgoth Jairam from Shankarayapally in Jadcherla mandal spent over Rs 2 lakh for sowing cotton in 6 acres but could only harvest 20 quintals instead of an expected 30 quintals. The price fall shattered his hopes, and he sold off the produce at Rs 6,900 per quintal, incurring losses. Similar is the case of another farmer Hanmanthu from Utkoor mandal in Narayanapet district who got a yield of 35 quintals from 10 acres and put it up at home, hoping for a better price.
The farmers are also facing incidents of fire and discoloration of the yield in the hot summer. They are requesting the government to intervene and ensure a minimum support price of Rs 8,500-9000 per quintal to help them recover their losses.
