The Southern India Mills’ Association has appealed to the Union Government and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to start procuring cotton at the minimum support price in the State.
Association chairman T. Rajkumar has said in a press release that Tamil Nadu was expected to produce six lakh bales of cotton this year. The market price of seed cotton in the State was lower than the support price now and arrivals were expected to pick up soon. The CCI has procured about 50 lakh bales, mostly from Telangana. It was expected to procure nearly 100 lakh bales of cotton this year (October 2014 to September 2015) at the support price from the cotton growing centres.
Mr. Rajkumar said the Union Government should ask the CCI to be prepared to procure cotton from Tamil Nadu too as prices might fall further.
The State Government had allocated Rs. 50 crore to establish a Cotton Cultivation Mission and increase cotton production in the State to 30 lakh bales. When efforts were on to scale up production, drop in prices might bring down the area under cotton. Hence, the State Government should ask the Centre to start procurement.
Though cotton production in the country was expected to touch 400 lakh bales this season, the international cotton scenario and the Chinese cotton policy were worrying factors for the cotton sector.
For the Indian textile industry, cotton was the main raw material. Hence, the Union and State Governments should take necessary steps to sustain the confidence of the cotton farmers and promote cotton cultivation in the State, he said.
