Farmer organizations seek deadline extension for cotton procurement till March 31
Farmer organisations in Adilabad and neighbouring districts have urged the Centre to extend the cotton procurement deadline till March, citing delayed harvesting due to weather and labour shortage. They warned of losses if forced to sell to private traders
Adilabad: Various farmer organisations demanded that the Centre extend the deadline to procure cotton for another month.
The erstwhile Adilabad district is considered one of the largest producers of cotton. Officials said that the commercial crop was cultivated in 12.60 lakh acres across Adilabad, Mancherial, Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Nirmal districts in 2025. They estimated that the four districts would register a yield of around 70 lakh quintals.
On October 27, the Cotton Corporation India (CCI) formally commenced the procurement with a minimum support price of Rs 8,110 per quintal containing moisture between 8 and 12 per cent. Subsequently, it slashed the price by Rs 100 citing higher moisture content and reduced size of cotton seeds, causing losses to the growers.
Officials said that 40.25 lakh quintals of cotton produce was procured in the composite district so far, compared to 56.94 lakh quintals purchased in 2025. The agriculture market yard in Adilabad town saw procurement of 14.93 lakh quintals of cotton as against 25.38 lakh quintals in the previous year. The market yards in Asifabad, Nirmal and Mancherial districts comparatively recorded a lower quantity of cotton than in 2025.
Recently, the Cotton Corporation India (CCI) issued a notice revising the deadline till February 27 in place of February 20 notified earlier, following widespread protests by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders and farmer organisations. The CCI and marketing officials told farmers to utilise the opportunity and advised them to report their grievances on 83328 07008, a help desk created by the corporation.
However, farmer organisations have been urging the Centre to extend the deadline till March 25 instead of February 27. They argued that they would incur further losses in cotton cultivation as they would be forced to sell to private traders if the process was stopped by the end of this month.
The organisations and farmers said that cotton harvesting was being delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions and a lack of farm labourers to gather cotton balls. They stated that harvesting was still under way and would end by March 31. They requested that the CCI fix March 31 as the deadline for completing cotton procurement every year.
