Kishor Tiwari, chairman of the special task force constituted to tackle agrarian crisis in Maharashtra, on Monday sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to stabilise prices of cotton and soybean to stop its distress sale by farmers.
The Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swawlamban Mission (VSSNM) has appealed to the State and Central governments to intervene as the main cash crops are being sold much below the Minimum Support Price in Vidarbha and Marathwada.
Mr. Tiwari alleged that intervention of Central agencies was too poor to stabilise the market prices of cotton and soybean, which has a record seven million hectares area under cultivation in Vidarbha.
Mr.Tiwari said, “Cotton Corporation of India and NAFED failed to stabilise the prices. This is only adding fuel to the ongoing agrarian crisis.”
Mr. Tiwari said he has asked PMO for strong Exim policy changes for banning imported cotton lint and palm oil and put soybean cake DOC in MCDEX and NCDEX open trade besides giving export subsidies to cotton and soybean traders in the country.
The task force welcomed Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s decision to provide special relief to cotton growers in the State by announcing a bonus of ₹500 per quintal over and above the minimum support price of ₹4,320.
Mr. Tiwari said, “Cotton growers are staring at huge losses due to bollworm attack and pesticide poisoning deaths. We have made a special request to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to follow the Gujarat government’s decision of giving a bonus over and above the MSP.”
He added, “The Prime Minister had also made this promise to cotton farmers of the region during 2014 parliamentary election campaign.”
Holding “hostile bureaucrats” responsible for the delay in procurement, Mr. Tiwari urged the Chief Minister to immediately start procurement centres of the CCI and the marketing federation to stop the distress sale.
