Officials gear up for cotton procurement in erstwhile Warangal

Warangal Urban district officials are expecting to procure 90,000 metric tonnes of cotton from more than 82,000 acres in the district

Warangal: The officials of the Department of Marketing and Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) in association with the Department of Agriculture are gearing up to procure the cotton for the Vaankalam (Kharif) season in the erstwhile Warangal district.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Mulugu District Collector S Krishna Aditya said that the cotton was sown in 30,487 acres in the district and  added that they were expecting 2,43,897 quintals of the yield.

“I have directed the officials to submit a report containing details like cotton cultivated in village wise, habitation wise and farmer wise as it would be helpful for the smooth procurement. Early preparation will help easy procurement,” he said.

“We have three ginning mills in the district where purchase would be done. Each mill will be monitored by a nodal officer. CCTV cameras will also be set up at the mills,” the Collector informed.

The Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) were asked to issue tokens to the farmers giving details like name of the mill and time of the procurement. “If farmers from other districts come to our district, they must get the token from the agriculture officials to sell their produce,” he added.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Warangal Urban district are expecting 90,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of the cotton from more than 82,000 acres in the district. “While we set up 18 CCI procurement centres at the ginning mills last year, we are going to set up 28 procurement centres this year,” said Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumanthu and added that those who come from other districts should enroll their names with the nodal officer before bringing the cotton at the CCI procurement centre.

The collector has directed the officials of the Disaster Response and Fire Services to take steps to avoid fire mishaps at the purchasing centres by ensuring firefighting equipments.

Enumamula Agriculture Chairman Chintala Sadanandam said that there is a need to deploy two fire tenders at the market yard during the cotton procurement time.“We are expecting that the arrivals will begin in the next month. We are also taking steps to check the spread of the Covid-19 at these centres,” he added.

In Warangal Rural district, cotton was cultivated in 2,03,794 acres and the estimated production is 1,88,459 MTs. “We got 1,49,442 MTs in the last year,” said an official and added that 11 CCI centres will be set up in the district.

Meanwhile, Mahabubabad District Collector VP Gautham held a review meeting with the officials a couple of days ago and asked them to ensure smooth transactions and trouble free cotton purchase season.

District Agriculture Officer (DAO), Mahabubabad, Chatru Naik said that the cotton was cultivated in 1,34,000 acres and they were expecting 93800 MTs. “Crop was damaged by heavy rains last month. So we are expecting only seven quintals per acre this time,” the DAO added.

While the MSP for the long staple cotton with long staple is Rs 5,825, the cotton with medium staple is Rs 5,515.

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