Cotton farmers in Telengana are caught between the devil and the deep sea. First, they had to confront prolonged dry spell which not only escalated the input expenditure of cotton cultivation, but also halved their produce compared to last year. Now they are having problems with the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI), which was ostensibly established to protect their interests by ensuring remunerative prices.

With no remunerative price in sight, unlike last year, where the price went up to as high as Rs 6,000 a quintal, farmers have had to resort to the CCI’s minimum support price offer of Rs 4,050 a quintal this season. CCI procurement centers are rejecting farmers’ produce on the grounds of high moisture content. As per CCI norms, the moisture content in kapas should be between eight and 12 per cent.

So many farmers approach commission agents or middlemen. They rely on these agents for finance to carry out their farming. All the hardwork of farmers who incur an expenditure of Rs 25,000 per acre, ends up in the hands of middlemen. So far the market has received 14.63 lakh quintals of kapas this season. The average quantity received is around 20 lakh quintals.