Cotton farmers protest against sudden drop in price

Decrease in a week will hurt them badly, they say

The cotton farmers staged an agitation in front of the Konganapuram branch of the Tiruchengode Agricultural Producers Cooperative Marketing Society in protest against the sudden drop in the price of cotton on Friday.

Since cotton did not fetch good price at the weekly auction on Friday, the farmers suddenly resorted to an agitation.

They said that the price of a kg of cotton had dropped by Rs. 10, from Rs. 48 last week to Rs. 38 yesterday. The decrease within a week would badly hit the farmers, they complained and alleged that the fall was mainly due to the syndicate formed by the traders.

The Konganapuram cooperative society sources said that the price of first quality crop remained the same as last week and the fall was only in the second quality variety.

Meanwhile, the farmers decided to organise a road roko agitation. On receiving information, the police rushed to the spot and informed the farmers that they could participate in the auction next week, if they found the price not up to the expectations. Following this, the farmers dispersed peacefully.

However, the cotton auction held as usual on Saturday without any disturbance.