Cotton growers are realising decent rates despite bumper crop this time, thanks to government procurement.
Aurangabad: In early-November, when Satyakumar Kolhe went to sell 18 out of his total 35 quintals produce of kapas (raw un-ginned cotton) at the Ambad wholesale market in Jalna district, the traders there quoted an average price of Rs 4,500 per quintal. The 45-year-old from Guru Pimpari village of Jalna’s Ghansawangi taluka, who grew the fibre crop on his entire four-acre land, decided to hold back.
“It didn’t make sense to sell at Rs 4,500, when the government’s minimum support price (MSP) was Rs 5,500/quintal. So, I decided to wait till CCI (Cotton Corporation of India) started buying towards the last week of November,” says Kolhe, who eventually sold his crop in two tranches of 18 and 17 quintals on December 18 and January 3, respectively at the procurement agency’s Bhokardan and Jalna purchase centres. He realised an average rate of Rs 5,330/quintal, as the moisture content in his produce was around 12%; the Rs 5,500 MSP required a level of only 8%.
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