Cotton fetches premium in AP

Prices climb 15 per cent to Rs 2,100 a quintal in the state's spot markets.

Cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh ended the year on a bright note as prices climbed by 15 per cent to Rs 2,100 a quintal in the last week of the previous year.

Though traders have put this year's AP cotton crop size at 1.3 crore bales (180 kg each), according to the Andhra Pradesh Cotton Association (APCOT) estimates, it could be little over 50 lakh bales.

The association and traders differ on crop arrivals too. While the former claimed arrivals of 16 lakh bales, the latter maintained that the markets saw a sales of over 65 lakh bales.

Traders had offered farmers Rs 50-100 above the Cotton Corporation of India's (CCI) MSP of Rs 2,050 a quintal last week, with cotton sold at Rs 2,100-2,150 a quintal at Peddpalli and Karimnagar spot markets and between Rs 2,100 and Rs 2,250 a quintal on delivery at Guntur on Thursday and Friday.

Farmers said they had also received Rs 2,500 a quintal for the best quality cotton, and expect prices to touch Rs 2,700 by February. Meanwhile, 30 mm lint quoted at Rs 19,600-19,700 a candy, 31 mm Rs 19,900-20,000, and 33 mm Rs 20,300-20,500.

The liberalisation of cotton exports, good export orders, the sudden swelling in the number of speculators and Gujarat poll results, a textile hub, to a small extent have contributed to the sudden spurt in prices. About 700 ginning mills in the Guntur area are working round the clock, according to traders.

Though 95 per cent of the farmers, who grew bt cotton, managed to save a whopping 80 per cent expenditure on fertilisers and pesticides, they had to pay exhorbitant wages at the rate of Rs 3-3.5 a kg to farmhands following labour shortage.

The CCI has, meanwhile, projected the crop size at 35 lakh bales. It has purchased 7.5 lakh quintals so far at Rs 143.5 crore from 31 purchase centres, according to branch manager P A Ghate.

The CCI opened these centres in five districts and paid Rs 1,931-2,050 a quintal. The corporation along with experts had organised front line demonstrations (FLD) in 7 villages, contract farming in 7 villages in Guntur and Krishna districts, he said.