CCI resumes cotton procurement as farmers call off protests in Telangana

Farmers had raised concerns that they were being paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 less per quintal than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 7,521 for premium-quality cotton

Hyderabad: The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) resumed the procurement operations in the State on Tuesday as protests by farmers and a strike by ginning mill owners were called off.

The move came after CCI agreed to ease its procurement norms, prompting farmers to begin moving their stocks to market yards in major cotton-producing areas such as Nizamabad, Warangal, and Khammam.

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Farmers had raised concerns that they were being paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 less per quintal than the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 7,521 for premium-quality cotton.

Ginning mill owners attributed the payment discrepancies to CCI’s practices, noting that while the corporation initially committed to paying Rs 1,345 per cotton bale, the offer was later reduced due to excessive moisture content exceeding the permissible limit of 12 percent.

CCI officials have assured farmers, traders, and ginning mill owners of steps to ensure smooth operations at the market yards, enabling the procurement process to restart.

As a result, farmers have called off their protests and resumed bringing their cotton stocks to the yards.

Officials expressed optimism that all 318 ginning mills in the state would be able to resume their operations by noon, restoring normalcy to the state’s cotton procurement process.