Bumper cotton crop raises fear of distress sale in Ganjam

The projection of a bumper cotton production this year in south Orissa's Ganjam district has brought back fears of distress sale of the crop.

According to experts, the cotton production in Ganjam district this year is expected to touch 1800 quintals as against 826 quintals last year. About 1465 hectares in the district was earmarked for cotton cultivation, said cotton expert Kasinath Khuntia.

Although at least three private firms had entered into an agreement with the district administration to procure cotton from the farmers of the district at Minimum Support Price (MSP), only one firm- Eco-Farm has procured the commodity at MSP.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Ganjam district administration has intervened to avert any distress sale of cotton.

The district administration has asked Balaji Spinning Mill, operated by a private company at Aska to procure cotton from the farmers at MSP fixed by the government.

The government has fixed the MSP of cotton at Rs 2500-3000 per quintal depending on the quality of the product.

“We have asked the spinning mill at Aska to procure cotton from the farmers in the district at MSP fixed by the government”, said VK Pandian, the Ganjam district collector. Besides Balaji Spinning Mill, the Ganjam district administration would also request the Cotton Federation of India (CFI) and Eco Farm, a private organization to procure cotton from the farmers.

This decision was taken at the annual cotton procurement meeting held at Chhatrapur, the district headquarter town recently.

Last year, the spinning mill had procured around 400 quintals of cotton from the farmers in the district after much persuasion by the district administration. The farmers' organizations in the district have alleged that the farmers were forced to resort to distress sale of cotton because the administration failed to make proper arrangement to procure cotton from them.

“The farmers were forced to sell the cotton at distress rate as the firms who had entered into the agreement with the district administration to procure the commodity failed to do so”, alleged Brundaban Khatei, a farmers’ leader.