Thummala asks Centre to relax cotton procurement norms

Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao urged the Centre to restore cotton procurement to 11 quintals per acre and relax the moisture limit to 20 percent. He said limited mill operations and the seven-quintal norm were causing hardship for farmers across Telangana.

Hyderabad: Agriculture and Marketing Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao appealed to the Centre to procure 11 quintals of cotton per acre and scrap the seven-quintal norm in the interest of farmers.

In a video conference with Central officials on Monday, the Minister said the Cotton Corporation of India had initially procured 11 quintals per acre. However, the CCI was now procuring only seven quintals per acre, which was subjecting farmers to severe distress. The issue had been raised with the Centre over the past few days but there was no response, he said.

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Due to the recent untimely rains and the resulting high moisture content, the Minister urged the Centre to relax the permissible moisture limit up to 20 percent. This would help farmers avail the MSP benefits without rejection of their stocks at procurement, he said, adding that a meeting would be held on Tuesday regarding the strike by ginning mills.

Although it has been a month since procurement commenced, only 243 mills were assigned to farmers for procurement and the rest had not started operations. This was forcing farmers to travel long distances to sell their stocks, the Minister added.