Cotton purchasing centre inaugurated at Guntur

Guntur: MLA Ambati Rambabu inaugurated cotton purchasing centre on Sattenapalli Agriculture Market Yard premises set up by the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) on Thursday.

Speaking on this occasion, he said for the convenience of farmers, the CCI has set up cotton purchasing centre to get better price to the farmers.

Guntur district Rythu Sangam president Gadde Chalamaiah said that 60 percent of farmers cultivating cotton are tenant farmers. Due to lack of identity cards, they did not book for e-crop. He demanded that the district administration issue ID cards to the tenant farmers and take steps to get MSP. He demanded that the CCI relax the norms and purchase the cotton from the farmers without taking moisture into consideration.

Based on the moisture percentage the CCI is paying the price to the farmers. The CCI is paying maximum Rs 5,825 per quintal. Depending upon quality and moisture percentage, the CCI is fixing the rate and paying price to the farmers. If the cotton contains more than 12 percent moisture, the farmers are not getting the MSP. As a result, the farmers in losses. Floods and heavy rains in September and October damaged cotton crop in Guntur, Krishna, Kurnool and West Godavari districts.